Georgia’s State Election Board has taken decisive action to bolster the transparency and reliability of its election process, voting on Monday to implement new election rules that mandate a hand count verification of vote totals at the end of each voting day. The decision comes amid a nationwide push to ensure that election outcomes are both accurate and trusted by the public.
The board’s virtual meeting was held at 9 a.m. on Monday in Georgia. The meeting’s agenda centered on a rule initially endorsed by the board in July, following a 3-1 vote to advance the proposal made by Sharlene Alexander, a member of Fayette County’s election board. The rule amends Section 183-1-12-.12(a)(5), detailing the process whereby a poll manager and two poll officers will conduct the ballot counts at the conclusion of voting days.
The rule change comes at a critical time for Georgia, a state that has found itself at the heart of election integrity debates, especially following the highly contentious 2020 elections. The new procedure requires counties to reconcile the count of paper ballot receipts with the tabulations from voting machines, a practice that Kandiss Taylor, a figure in Georgia politics, suggested should have been standard.
The decision is particularly significant as Georgia braces for another potentially turbulent election cycle. With polls indicating a close race ahead and a well-organized group of Trump-aligned election activists, the state is poised to be a battleground for electoral disputes.
Georgia’s State Election Board, like its counterparts in other swing states, was established as an independent agency. Its mandate is to determine voting rules and provide guidance for poll workers, ensuring that elections are conducted with integrity and order, devoid of political influence. According to the Sample Page, the poll manager, along with two other officials sworn in as poll officers, are required to manually unseal and open each scanner ballot box. They will then remove the paper ballots, record the date and time the box was emptied, and proceed to independently count the ballots. The ballots are to be organized in stacks of 50, ensuring counting by each of the three officers.
The manual counting process is designed to serve as a reliable check against the electronic tabulation systems. Once all three officials reach the same total independently, they are required to sign a control document that verifies the accuracy of the count. This document includes detailed information such as the polling place, ballot scanner serial number, and the election name, among other specifics. In the event of any discrepancies between the hand count and the electronic counts recorded on precinct poll pads and ballot marking devices, the poll manager is tasked with determining the cause of the inconsistency, making necessary corrections, and documenting any issues and resolutions comprehensively.
The amendments aim to reduce the opportunity for collusion and sabotage of election results and address the common complaints regarding electronic voting system errors.
This comes after the 2020 Georgia election and its aftermath were marked by significant controversy, especially regarding the results of the presidential race. Claims of widespread voter fraud led to various legal challenges and a significant amount of public and media scrutiny. The situation also drew attention to the role of election officials and the pressures they faced, highlighted by notable figures like Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State.
