Georgia to conduct ‘health checks’ on voting machines before 2024 election

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia’s elections director said Friday the secretary of state’s office will be performing “health checks” on all 159 counties’ voting machines before the next election.

In a call with county election officials, Blake Evans said, “I don’t think there is a more tested voting system in the country than the one we have in Georgia. We passed every test after a close presidential race in 2020, including a hand-audit and a full recount. And it passed every test in high-profile elections in 2022 as well.”

Evans made the comments while while informing the counties the state would be doing system security checks in every county. The checks will examine election management systems, ballot marking devices and scanners, as well as software checks.

Evans also announced Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office is coordinating with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to conduct site security assessments of the storage and warehousing of all election equipment in each county.

Former president Donald Trump continues to double down on claims of 2020 general election fraud in Georgia and elsewhere. In a televised town hall on CNN last week, Trump again defended his now-famous call to Raffensperger in January 2021, in which he requested the secretary of state to “find” enough votes for him to win.

The call launched a grand jury investigation out of Fulton County and District Attorney Fani Willis has indicated indictments against Trump and others could come down this summer.

Earlier this week, Raffensperger’s office announced the results of a recent U.S. Census Bureau that showed Georgia voters shattered turnout and participation rates in the 2022 midterm elections. Georgia was No. 1 in voter turnout in the southeast and tied for No. 17 nationally.

Georgia GOP officials continue to face accusations from Democrats and other liberal groups the state is suppressing the minority vote, even in the face of overwhelming turnout.

“Election deniers and those with similar claims in the courts may want us to irresponsibly move faster to make this change”, said Raffensperger. “However, I have told our team we will move in a responsible, deliberate, and mature way that will put the needs of voters and our election workers first. I’m an engineer. To build a solid structure, you need a strong well laid foundation. That is what this plan does.”

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