An effort to trash Georgia’s electronic voting machines got underway Wednesday amid disagreements over how to make the state’s elections secure and accurate. The first meeting of a group that will recommend a replacement voting system showed divides over whether Georgia should use pen-and-paper ballots or touchscreen machines to print ballots. Brought together by Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections (SAFE) Commission will review options for the state’s next voting system and then make a recommendation to the General Assembly before next year’s legislative session. A new voting system could be in place in time for the 2020 presidential election.
There’s broad consensus that Georgia should buy a voting system with a verifiable paper trail to double-check results, conduct recounts and prevent potential fraud.
But as state lawmakers found earlier this year when they failed to pass a bill for a new voting system, finding agreement on a new multimillion-dollar voting system won’t be easy.
Kemp said the state’s 16-year-old touchscreen voting machines should be phased out and replaced with a system that uses paper for verification.
Full Article: Officials and voters debate a new voting system for Georgia.