In response to widespread concerns about election security, a bipartisan coalition of leaders in Georgia is advocating for a return to hand-marked paper ballots. Jeanne Dufort, Chairwoman of the Morgan County Democratic Party, has submitted a petition to the State Election Board (SEB) urging the adoption of a voting system that uses hand-marked ballots.
The petition, set for review at the SEB’s August 6 meeting, calls for the implementation of the Dominion 5.5-A voting system, which features hand-marked ballots tabulated by precinct and central scanners. This move is intended to ensure a reliable paper trail that accurately reflects voter intent.
“The switch to hand-marked ballots is a straightforward change that can significantly improve the transparency and security of our elections,” Dufort told The Federalist.
Support for this proposal is not limited to Democrats. Cobb County Republican Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs has also backed the initiative, highlighting the unresolved security vulnerabilities in the current voting system. “We have not had the machines updated with the security patches, it was too late to do it, Raffensperger said that. He has chosen not to do the things that needed to be done to secure the election so from that perspective, I support paper ballots,” Grubbs said.
Former Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) has added his voice to the call, stressing the importance of having a verifiable paper trail for each vote cast. “The current system’s inability to certify that the ballots counted by machine reflect the voters’ choices is a significant issue,” Barrow wrote in a letter to the SEB.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was informed of these issues in 2021 but indicated that necessary updates could not be implemented until after the November 2024 election.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a report in 2022 acknowledging “vulnerabilities affecting versions of the Dominion Voting Systems Democracy Suite ImageCast X, which is an in-person voting system used to allow voters to mark their ballot.” CISA continued that the vulnerabilities “present risks that should be mitigated as soon as possible,” but said the agency had “no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections.”
The bipartisan push for hand-marked ballots comes amid ongoing legal battles and heightened scrutiny of election processes. As Georgia’s election officials consider the petition, the growing support for hand-marked ballots underscores the urgent need to restore public trust in the state’s electoral system. With the legal battles of Curling v. Raffensperger still ongoing, the bipartisan call for hand-marked ballots underscores a shared commitment to enhancing the integrity and reliability of Georgia’s election process.
