Attentive Georgia voters will notice something different when they go to their polling places on Election Day: pen and paper.
Poll workers will log each voter in electronically, but they will also be recording voters’ names on a backup log using pen and paper.
The retro method is required by a rule adopted in June by the State Election Board, the appointed body that establishes voting procedures in Georgia.
Approved in a 4-0 vote by
the five-member Republicancontrolled board, with the support of the lone Democrat, the measure was introduced after digital check-in failures during the May primary.
“This will be your paper document to refer back to if there’s an audit, if there’s a forensic audit,” then-board member Janice Johnston said at the meeting, according to the official transcript.
“Now, will it be perfect? No,” said Johnston, who subsequently stepped down from the board. “Someone will forget to write a name down, but it is the paper document to go back to.”
Anne Dover, the election director in Cherokee County, one of the largest counties in Georgia, said this week that she was concerned the requirement could slow the check-in process and result in longer lines.
Robert Sinners, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the top election official in Georgia, also said he expects delays.
“This additional step may slow down the check-in process,” he said.
