ATLANTA — A hand tally of ballots cast in Georgia for the presidential race has been completed, and it affirms Democrat Joe Biden’s lead over Republican President Donald Trump, according to results released Thursday by the secretary of state’s office.

The Associated Press declared Biden the winner of Georgia and its 16 Electoral College votes on Thursday, after the hand count confirmed the former vice president leads Trump by roughly 12,000 votes out of nearly 5 million counted.

The complete hand recount stemmed from an audit required by a new state law and wasn’t in response to any suspected problems with the state’s results or an official recount request.