New voting machines get first test in metro Atlanta

ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — The way you cast a ballot in Georgia is changing.

Beginning Monday, early voters in Rockdale County will test new voting machines.
The state's current machines are 17 years old.

The state elections director said the current machines are secure but they’re getting old, and will need to be replaced.

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Georgia officials picked the Rockdale County elections office to conduct a real-time test of a new voting system, called Expressvote.

Here’s how it works: Voters feed a paper ballot into a machine that marks only their votes. They get the paper ballot back to approve their selections.

“And feed the ballot into the system…it will read the ballot, and it says, 'Thank you for voting. Your ballot has been counted,'” said Rockdale County’s Board of Elections Supervisor Cynthia Welch.

Expressvote is just one of the voting systems state officials are considering. Early voting for the November 7 election begins today.

“We decided to come out early to go ahead and vote and try the new machines out,” said voter Laverne Bigby.

Cox Media Group