Georgia voter groups pushing for paper ballots

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia election integrity groups are pushing to bring back paper ballots in the Peach State.

Advocates for the change are citing privacy problems at the polls with electronic voting machines.

On Tuesday, the state’s Board of Elections heard dismissal and violation cases where there may have been a belief that someone broke the law. The reports included signature irregularities, felony voting and vote buying. Roughly a dozen people wore shirts that said “Paper Ballots Please” or a QR code that would be traditionally used on a paper ballot.

Kandiss Taylor is the first district chair of the Georgia GOP and former gubernatorial candidate who is a part of one of the voter integrity groups that feel they can’t trust Georgia’s election results and the people who run them.

“People aren’t going to vote, they know their vote isn’t going to count, they’re ticked off. We can’t trust an electronic voting machine. We have to go back to paper and count with our neighbors, Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians,” said Taylor.

On the other side of this issue, voter protection volunteers like Lauren Waits feel the paper ballot pushers are Republicans upset with election results.

“I don’t think our state should return to a Luddite society. I understand they’re genuinely worried and I hope that coming down to this meeting will help them relax a bit,” said Waits.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has defended the state’s voting system as secure and battle-tested and that other measures are in place to protect the system during the 2024 election cycle.

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