On August 15th, Federal Judge Amy Totenberg issued a 153-page ruling saying that the “long and twisted” saga of the State’s voting systems was nearing a conclusion.
Georgia remains one of five status in the U.S. that uses touchscreen voting machines with no paper backup mechanism or record-keeping ability. However, earlier this year, Georgia ordered a new voting system with ballot-marking devices that should installed in time for the March 24th presidential primary, according to Secretary of State Braf Raffensperger.
This comes on the heels of a highly contested, and narrowly decided, gubernatorial election that saw Brian Kemp, who was at the time Georgia’s Secretary of State and in charge of the elections process, defeat democrat Stacey Abrams. There were allegations that majority democrat areas were not able to vote because of the failure of the voting machines.
The order from Judge Totenberg requires Georgia to be ready to use paper, handmarked ballots in the event that the newly purchased system would not be ready in time for March 24th. Georgia spent $106 million on the voting system. This order is not binding on the November municipal elections.
