A ballot box at the Board of Voter Registration and Elections office in Gwinnett County, Georgia, on Nov. 7, 2020.
Georgia election officials had sent a memo to counties in November. The memo warned that there is a growing public demand for transparency of data such as Dominion Voting Systems software and other electronic poll books, but that voting machine software is not subject to the Open Records Act, which prohibits the release of voting software data.
Chris Harvey, director of the Joe State Department of Elections, noted in the memo, “Multiple counties have reported receiving open records requests for data information such as: copies of the original software for the voting equipment, copies of any software patches implemented on Dominion voting machines prior to the November 3, 2020 general election, and copies of USB drives containing software or software updates on a USB drive, etc.”
“Software, software updates, or copies of flash drives containing software and software updates are not subject to open records requests under the Open Records Act,” the memo said, “and furthermore, information that could compromise the security of election equipment cannot be provided.”
The memo was made public by a local election integrity campaigner on Dec. 17.
The Secretary of State’s office declined to comment on the matter, but did not deny the letter’s authenticity when contacted by the Epoch Times.
The letter was allegedly sent to election officials and election registrars in each county.
The memo also tells them that information recorded in the KNOWiNK poll book cannot be released because it contains information protected by the Georgia Trade Secrets Act and the Open Records Act.
The memo cites Georgia law, which states, “Documents or information whose release would jeopardize the security of any voting system or any component thereof used or contemplated for use in the state, including, but not limited to: electronic ballot marking devices, direct record voting machines (DREs), ballot scanners, poll books, and software or databases used for voter registration, may not be released for public use except by order of a competent court, shall not be open for public inspection.”
Those convinced of election irregularities in the Joe State have been frustrated by state officials, including Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, because officials have been slow to examine the voting process more closely.
The Georgia House speaker announced Thursday that he is seeking to replace Joe State’s top elected official amid criticism from the Republican Party, President Trump (R-Texas) and many state lawmakers.
Joe State House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, told reporters in Atlanta that he will try to pass a constitutional amendment to take back the power to choose the secretary of state from voters and give it to lawmakers.
“I think it’s time for us to look at another way of electing a secretary of state in Georgia,” Ralston said at a news conference, “and I’m pretty, pretty serious about that.”
The issue of election security in the Joe State has taken on added importance because of the upcoming Senate runoff, which will determine control of the Senate.
After resisting for some time, Secretary of State Raffensperger announced on Dec. 17 that there would be a statewide check of signatures on mail-in ballots in all 159 counties.
Raffensperger asked researchers at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs to conduct the examination, which includes “a random signature-matching study of election materials processed at the county level in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The researchers will also examine the operational process by which counties match absentee ballots and their envelope signatures.
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