A bill that would update Georgia’s voting machines got the okay on Tuesday from a House subcommittee despite continuing worries about security. The bill would provide for a paper trail, an audit process and would be the first update of Georgia’s voting system in more than 15 years.
This potential update would not come in time for the midterms this year but would aim to be in place by the presidential primaries of 2020. Further, it would bar the current machines from being used beyond 2023. There is some controversy of what would replace the current machines and many election watchers are concerned in particular about the possible use of bar codes – which could potentially be altered digitally without voters necessarily realizing it.
Common Cause Georgia – an honest government group that is particularly focused on elections – is concerned about both the costs of the new system and whether it would really solve the problems of potential hacking. Common Cause, along with many other groups, would like to see across-the-board paper ballots. These could not be manipulated digitally and would provide their own paper trail. They are the paper trail. However, with an all paper system in a state of some ten million residents, elections results could take significantly longer to tabulate and then, as Senator Dean Burke (R-11 Bainbridge) said last week, you run into the problem of election results not coming in for perhaps multiple days. Then people begin wondering about the integrity of what’s happening in those counting rooms.
Smythe Duval, the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State, is concerned with the process of the machines replacement – and on the lack of input from the future Secretary of State that might be implementing such a system. “You’re tying the hands of the next statewide elected Secretary of State official for no reason,” said Duval. “It does not behoove the process to go through something of this magnitude and have it decided this year while having the next Secretary of State’s hands tied by something that’s been previously done.”
The action on the voting machines bill comes on the heels of a GOP Secretary of State candidate forum in Gwinnett County. The four Republican candidates – Buzz Brockway, Brad Raffensperger, Josh McKoon and David Belle Isle – debated the priorities of the office and what are the biggest challenges for the office.
A familiar theme in Republican primaries around election, much of the talk of the evening revolved around making sure only American citizens were voting in our elections. Occupational licensing and certification were also a frequent topic. The Secretary of State sits atop a vast structure of licensing rules that require, in some cases, more than 1,000 hours of class to be able to cut hair or perform manicures. They also discussed the need to monitor charities and, with the advent of numerous scams via digital technology, the possible need to increase the investigative powers of the Secretary of State’s office.
The Secretary of State is not necessarily a “sexy” race and any attention that is usually paid to it centers around elections – which are certainly important – but there are numerous other responsibilities of the office and it’s worth paying attention to fully understand how broad are the powers of the office.
See the full GOP candidate forum below:
