ATLANTA — In a split decision, the Georgia State Election Board voted to update its voting machine software in an effort to “mitigate security patch concerns” and other issues top of mind for some of the board’s members.
The vote to update software on the state’s Dominion Voting System, now called Liberty Voting Systems, was proposed by Carolyn Roddy.
Records from the vote show the update patch was offered free of charge.
According to Roddy’s proposal, a software update isn’t the only thing its proponents want.
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The resolution, now passed, requires the Georgia Secretary of State to perform the software updates on state voting systems and create and retain forensic images of the server and internal hard drives before the updates are installed to preserve the data.
The resolution also stipulates that a copy of the server hard drives and internal machine hard drives be copied and those copies be provided to the State Election Board, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other relevant agencies “for examination, review or investigation.”
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The board resolution also empowers the SEB Executive Director to “immediately seek assistance” if the software is not updated, including help from federal agencies. The resolution cites federal policy declaring voting systems as critical infrastructure as part of this requirement.
The Board also gave itself permission to investigate the use of QR codes in state elections as a potential violation of federal law, related to a Sept. 2 letter from DHS and DOJ related to the sharing of Georgia motor vehicle data and voter registration information.
However, a federal judge recently ruled against the federal government’s right to those items on Wednesday, saying that Georgia did not have to turn over private voter information of this nature to the U.S. Government.
The DOJ was suing Georgia to turn over unredacted voter registration lists, which include driver’s license numbers, social security numbers and birth dates.
Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger celebrated the legal victory, saying in a statement that federal law can be followed without violating voter privacy.
“I will always protect the sensitive personal information of Georgians, in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “I will not give in and break the law for anyone. Period.”
The two members of the board to vote against the proposal were SEB Chair John Fervier and the board’s lone Democrat, Sarah Tindall Ghazal.
At the SEB meeting where the vote happened, both members said they were strongly against any federal involvement in state elections.
“I have a fundamental issue against the uh federal government becoming involved in elections, Georgia elections. I just fundamentally disagree with that,” Fervier said. “I actually fundamentally disagree with the federal government being involved in a lot of things. I’m a limited government kind of guy whether it’s state or federal. So, uh that’s my objection to this.”
Ghazal had similar objections, though her comments were more pointed. She asked her fellow board members how they would have reacted had she proposed similar policies under the previous administration.
“I do not support federal intervention in state-run elections. I think that is federal overreach. Again no matter who is in office. How would you feel if I had come up with this proposal under the previous administration? Would you be comfortable with that?” Ghazal asked. “Would you be fine with me asking DHS to come down?”
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