Douglas County To Give Test For Controversial New Voting Machines

DOUGLASVILLE, GA - Voters across Georgia will use new voting machines when they go to the polls in the presidential primary this year and Douglas County is holding a dry run Jan. 24 for voters interested in making it a breeze.

The Douglas County Board of Elections and Registration will have a demonstration Jan. 23 in Citizens Hall at the courthouse to prepare residents for the March 24 primary.

The new voting system was put in place after the 2018 gubernatorial election, which was marred by reports of malfunctioning voting equipment, hourslong wait times and criticism that the state’s outdated machines were vulnerable to hacking, according to reports at the time.

But some have criticized the new ones. Voters and groups pushing for all-paper ballots criticized the new machines as the state moved forward with the purchase this spring.

They argue when votes are recorded in a barcode that the scanners read the devices could also be open to hacking and results difficult to audit, according to the Washington Post.

The Georgia Secretary of State defends the machine’s security and supporters say the device prevents problems that plague all-paper voting forms, such as ballot stuffing

The machines will be paid for by the state, Georgia Elections Director Chris Harvey said, but individual counties will have to foot the bill for some of the additional costs — privacy screens and tables.

“There’s no cost for the equipment. Now, counties will certainly have to adjust certain things they do,” Harvey said. “For example, their storage needs are going to be a little bit different than the previous system.”

House Bill 316, signed into law in April, denotes that the state must allocate one voting machine for every 250 registered voters per precinct. Harvey said the state has more than enough.

In November, the state’s voter registration numbers reached never-before-seen heights. As of Nov. 14, Georgia had 7.4 million registered voters.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state has ordered 33,100 machines for the first year of the new system — that’s one machine for every 224 registered voters.

The state purchased the new system for $107 million this year to upgrade aging touchscreen machines that critics called vulnerable to hacking, according to a report from the Georgia Recorder.

Voters cast ballot selections on the new machines on a large electronic touchscreen, print those selections on paper to check for accuracy and run the printed ballot through a scanner to record the votes.

The Douglas demonstration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. will give voters a chance to “touch, see and feel the machines,” said Douglas County Elections Director Milton Kidd. The county is getting 417 voting machines, which replace the ones used since 2002.

Kidd said voters will get to run through the complete process at the demonstration this month. Instead of voting for candidates and referendums, Kidd said voters will be asked mock questions like the identity of the Georgia state flower.

Voters can drop in any time during the demonstration. Additionally, as part of an effort to educate all voters about how to use the new machines, Kidd said the Board of Elections will be happy to schedule on-site visits at meetings of groups interested in seeing the machines.

Also on the ballot for Douglas County voters March 24 will be whether to approve a new Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).

Kidd said that the new machines review all selections with voters like the old machines did. Once a voter is satisfied with all choices, Kidd said the new machines prompt voters to “print” rather than “cast ballot” like the old machines.

Kidd said votes are not counted until the printed ballot is inserted into a scanner. If a voter wants to change a selection after printing the ballot, there is a process in place to do that as long as the ballot hasn’t been inserted into the scanner, Kidd said.

Neighboring Paulding County was among the counties that got to try the machines out early. Precincts should boost the number of poll workers on site for larger elections to keep an eye out for distracted mistakes.

Some voters and groups pushing for all-paper ballots criticized the new machines as the state moved forward with the purchase this spring. They argue when votes are recorded in a barcode that the scanners read the devices could be open to hacking and results difficult to audit, according to the Washington Post.

The Georgia Secretary of State defends the machine’s security and supporters say the device prevents problems that plague all-paper voting forms, such as ballot stuffing

For more information about the new voting machines or to schedule a demonstration, call the Douglas County Board of Elections at 770-920-7213.