Georgia election officials talk recent developments in state’s elections

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - On Wednesday, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office held a press conference to address recent developments in the state’s upcoming elections.

On Wednesday the Secretary of State’s Office said Georgia’s elections are safe and secure.

The administration is also defending its decision to not upgrade software for the state’s voting system for the upcoming election.

Election officials say right now the state is piloting the new version of the Dominion software in five counties.

Gabriel Sterling, Chief Operating Officer for the Secretary of State’s Office, says so far those elections are going smoothly but they want to proceed with caution.

Election officials say discovering potential problems ahead of time allows the state to address the issue without putting election results and public trust at risk.

“We wanted to look at doing it quickly potentially but it’s very difficult given the fact that we have to run elections in 122 counties right now. It takes tens of thousands of man hours to do this, and also, it’s never been tested,” said Sterling.

Some state lawmakers are pushing to have the Dominion software upgrade installed in time for next year’s elections.

“We should be able to have some counties utilizing the new Dominion software for the presidential preference primary, for the primaries following in May, for any runoffs, I think we can incrementally move the needle forward,” said Sen. Max Burns (R – Sylvania).

The Secretary of State’s Office says safeguards are already being put in place ahead of the 2024 election.

Election officials say that includes security health checks on voting equipment across Georgia to help ensure no software has been tampered with.

On Nov. 7, voters will decide on elections that will directly impact local communities.

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