Georgia Passes Election Security Bills Intended on Thwarting Democrat Vote Counting Shenanigans

"Prior to 2020, most citizens were quietly asleep at the switch, thinking their government would never screw them over. They finally woke up and said, 'This isn't right. Something is wrong.' They got involved. And I mean tons of people got involved in their local GOPs, in the Republican assemblies, they started going to events, and they were paying attention." - David Cross 

After two years of debate and loud and persistent grassroots activism, the Georgia Assembly voted to beef up security in Georgia's elections substantially. According to election security activist David Cross, one of the most significant changes will be the addition of a "visible watermark security feature" on ballots that will identify each ballot as an "official Georgia ballot."

Three bills, SB189, HB974, and HB1207, are said to go a long way to end "unverifiable, secretly counted elections" in Georgia by detering "ballot trafficking, counterfeit ballots, and ballot box stuffing" by requiring the visible watermarks and more robust chain of custody procedures.

And no surprise to most anyone, the "Democracy is in Danger" democrats made several unsuccessful attempts to stop the bill from passing. 

One of the most significant aspects of SB189 is that the text portion of the paper ballot, NOT the QR code, will be used as the "official vote for purposes of vote tabulation," both in the election and in any subsequent audit or recount. QR-coded ballots make it impossible for voters to know their votes were cast and counted properly. It is also important to note that even if one removes the QR codes, it does not remove vulnerability on the ballot to hidden coding in electronic voting.

SB189 also allows counties with fewer than 5,000 registered voters to conduct voting on paper ballots rather than ballot marking devices (BMDs).  Absentee ballots may only be tabulated on Election Day with results to be reported no later than 1 hour after polls close. Each party will have two observers to monitor mail-in ballot tabulation. Chain of custody procedures and rules are clearly delineated in the bill, as are measures to verify the identification of first-time absentee voters.

HB1207 requires "any person employed by a county election superintendent...shall be a citizen of the United States." In other words, anyone handling ballots or electronic ballots will be a U.S. citizen. This bill also specifies poll watchers' (volunteers) access to polls. Poll watchers will be "entitled to observe any activity conducted at the location where they are serving...and shall be entitled to sit or stand as close as is practicable to the observed activity to be able to see and hear the poll worker or election official being observed."

While the Georgia Assembly should be applauded for its efforts to better secure elections in the state, electronic voting systems will remain a poor substitute for election-day voting, paper ballots, and hand counts. Continuing to use electronic voting systems will inevitably result in "catastrophic" security breaches, voter irregularities and stolen elections as long as democrats are involved. 

UNCOVERDC

AJC