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What happens next after Georgia certifies its election results?

We've got a long way to go before election season is actually over in the Peach State.

ATLANTA — By 5 p.m. on Friday, 17 days after Election Day, Georgia had certified its results and declared a winner of the Peach State's electoral votes.

Will we be done then? Not even close.

Here's a basic rundown of what happens next, and when:

  • Certification of electors: By state law, Gov. Brian Kemp has until the 18th day after the election - Saturday - at 5 p.m. to certify the list of people who will vote in the Electoral College. In Georgia, parties submit their list of electors before the election and then the governor certifies the list of the party whose candidate got the most votes. In this case, that will be the Democrats' list.
  • Request of official recount: Didn't we already do a recount? Nope, that was an audit that was performed as a hand recount of Georgia's five million votes at the discretion of the Secretary of State. The audit is performed before certification. After certification, candidates within a half a percentage point - including President Donald Trump - have the right to request an official machine recount. The deadline for those candidates to do so is two business days after certification - so, in this case, Tuesday, Nov. 24.
  • Resolution of court challenges: By federal law, states have until Dec. 8 to resolve any lawsuits against their election results.
  • Electoral college vote: Georgia's electors will meet to cast their votes on Dec. 14.
  • Congress counts electoral votes: This happens on Jan 6.

Then, finally, the presidential election will be irreversibly over in Georgia.

Don't forget, though, during all that time we'll have various deadlines and key dates for the runoffs in our two Senate races, which will be held on Jan. 5.

Learn more about the Senate runoff dates and deadlines: Key dates before Georgia's Jan. 5 runoff election

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