Garland Favorito, who leads the election integrity group VoterGA, said the recent series of election integrity bills passed by the Georgia General Assembly create “landmark features” and will serve as an example to states looking to secure their voting procedures.
A press release by VoterGA highlights legislation, passed by lawmakers, which bans “unverifiable QR-coded voting and improve election transparency by making physical ballots public record.”
In addition, “New election security measures also require improved ballot chain of custody procedures to deter ballot trafficking and visible watermarks on all ballots to help detect ballot counterfeiting.”
VoterGA explained, “The language further requires all absentee voting tabulation to be completed on Election Night to help prevent post-election ballot box stuffing.”
Legislation highlighted by the group includes SB 189, an omnibus election integrity bill, HB 947, which mandates visible security watermarks on ballots, and HB 1207, which grants meaningful access to poll watchers.
Favorito said in a statement, “We believe these new fraud prevention bills contain landmark features that can be models for other states in securing their elections.”
The Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) promised a lawsuit against the state if Kemp signs SB 189, the legislation to remove QR codes from ballots, streamline election contests, create new chain of custody requirements and set conflict of interest standards for those who work on the state’s elections.
In its statement last week, the ACLU of Georgia called the legislation a “Frankenbill” that violates federal law. An ACLU spokesman threatened, “If the governor signs this bill, we will see him in court.”
Georgia previously faced reprisals from major corporations and cultural figures after Kemp signed SB 202 in 2021, which was heralded by election integrity advocates as a step forward for secure elections.
Last November, the governor posted to social media to note that Major League Baseball (MLB) announced the return of its All-Star Game to Atlanta despite Georgia’s new voting law remaining on the books. MLB originally pulled the game from the state amid national uproar over the voting law.
Kemp explained, “Georgia’s voting laws haven’t changed, but it’s good to see the MLB’s misguided understanding of them has.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Garland Favorito” by VoterGa.
