Atlanta

Secretary of State wants to put troopers at every polling place during elections

By Richard Elliot, WSB-TV
By Richard Elliot, WSB-TV

ATLANTA — Georgia’s Secretary of State wants to see state troopers at every polling place from Cuthbert to Calhoun, and he’s asking the General Assembly and governor’s office to help make that happen.

But that request is drawing fire from Georgia Democrats, who say it’s just not practical.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger pointed out that there has been an unprecedented number of threats made against poll workers since the 2020 elections.

We ran a December 2020 story about a Fulton County elections worker who was the target of so much social media disinformation that the ensuing threats sent him into hiding.

“Georgia State Patrol officers are well-trained, highly respected across the country and party lines,” Raffensperger said.

Now, he wants the General Assembly and the governor to authorize deploying Georgia state troopers to every polling place in Georgia for early and Election Day voting. He insists that the extra show of force would deter threats of violence.

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“We want to make sure the credentialed poll watchers, elections workers, everyone feels that they are in a safe environment,” Raffensperger said.

But Democrats pointed out that could be logistically difficult because there are three times as many polling locations across Georgia as there are state troopers.

“What’s foolish about this proposal is that, I think, there are 25-hundred polling locations, 800 state troopers. So unless you’re going to divide them into three, there’s no way to actually do it,” State Rep. James Beverly told Channel 2′s Richard Elliot.

Atlanta Democratic lawmaker Bee Nguyen is also running for Secretary of State. She insists a show of force at polling places would create voter intimidation.

“The fear is this would create intimidation tactics that are directed toward voters instead of addressing some of the things at hand,” Nguyen said.

Elliot attempted to talk to the campaign of the other Republican running for Secretary of State, Rep. Jody Hice, but he did not get a response.

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