Six election companies offered a first look Thursday at voting systems they’re trying to sell to Georgia, all of which have some sort of paper ballot combined with tabulation computers. All but one of the companies pitched touchscreen machines, similar to those currently in use, that print ballots as a backup to help ensure accurate results. The remaining company proposed hand-marked paper ballots, where voters would fill in bubbles next to their choices and then feed those ballots into scanning machines. Georgia’s elected officials are considering switching from the state’s 16-year-old electronic voting machines to a more secure system. Critics of the state’s current direct-recording electronic voting system say they’re concerned it could be hacked without any backstop.
The election companies demonstrated their products to the Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections (SAFE) Commission, a group of lawmakers, election directors and voters who are reviewing the state’s options before making a recommendation to the Georgia General Assembly for a replacement voting system.
About 100 people, including commission members, company representatives, lawmakers, security advocates and concerned citizens, turned out for the meeting at the Columbia County Exhibition Center.
Full Article: Voting companies demo paper ballots for Georgia.