Secretary Raffensperger defended Georgia’s election integrity laws, denouncing the 11th-hour effort to impose new activist rulemaking that would undermine key provisions of Georgia’s Election Integrity Act (S.B. 202) and other reforms like S.B. 189:
Since taking office, Secretary Raffensperger has supported reforms that foster voter confidence in elections. The Secretary was proud to work with the General Assembly to require Photo ID for absentee ballots, expedite reporting and certification of election results, strengthen chain of custody procedures, and implement rigorous citizenship verification to ensure that only U.S. citizens can vote in our elections. Because of these efforts, Georgia has been identified by the Heritage Foundation as having some of the best election integrity measures in the country.
“Activists seeking to impose last-minute changes in election procedures outside of the legislative process undermine voter confidence and burden election workers,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “The General Assembly knew that quick reporting of results and certification is paramount to voter confidence and passed S.B. 202, but misguided attempts by the State Election Board will delay election results and undermine chain of custody safeguards. Georgia voters reject this 11th hour chaos, and so should the unelected members of the State Election Board.”
One of the main election integrity measures that the General Assembly put in place in both S.B. 202 and S.B. 189 are procedures to ensure the quick and accurate reporting of results. Quick reporting of results is a hallmark of Georgia’s election administration and bolsters voter confidence. Delays in results create a vacuum that leads to misinformation and disinformation.
Georgia voters deserve confidence that election results will be timely reported on Election Night as required by S.B. 202 and S.B. 189. Misguided efforts to impose new procedures like hand counting ballots at polling locations make it likely that Georgians will not know the results on Election Night. Additionally, having poll workers handle ballots at polling locations after they have been voted introduces a new and significant risk to chain of custody procedures. Georgia law already has secure chain of custody protocols for handling ballots, and efforts to change these laws by unelected bureaucrats on the eve of the election introduces the opportunity for error, lost or stolen ballots, and fraud.
Throughout this year, the Secretary of State’s office has been traveling across the state working with county election officials to conduct audits and site inspections that ensure the state’s voting equipment is secure and in working order. Each of Georgia’s 159 counties have passed the test. Georgia’s voter rolls are the cleanest in the nation, and Secretary Raffensperger is the first Secretary of State to conduct a citizenship audit to ensure only U.S. citizens can vote in Georgia elections. The Secretary’s office has also coordinated tabletop exercises between county election workers, law enforcement and cybersecurity partners to reinforce the security of our election processes. These misguided, last-minute changes from unelected bureaucrats who have never run an election and seem to reject the advice of anyone who ever has could cause serious problems in an election that otherwise will be secure and accurate.
