New Georgia election board chair takes helm ahead of midterms – Georgia Recorder

A newly rebuilt State Election Board is positioned to find out whether or not the state takes over Fulton County election operations, oversee Georgia’s pivotal midterms, and examine election safety challenges.

The‌ ‌new chair of the state board ‌is‌ retired U.S. District Courtroom of Northern Georgia Choose William Duffey Jr., who was appointed Friday by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, the identical day the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company launched an advisory figuring out vulnerabilities within the state’s voting software program however ‌discovered‌ ‌no‌ ‌proof‌ ‌of‌ ‌election interference.

This report may issue right into a prolonged and long-running courtroom case pitting the state in opposition to voting organizations over the safety of the state’s‌ digital voting system. ‌The state board that oversees state elections may even have an affect on how the method is‌ ‌dealt with for the longer term use of Georgia’s Dominion Voting Techniques machines bought in 2019 to the tune of $107 million to switch its previous Diebold machines in time for the 2020 election cycle.

The cybersecurity company’s report launched final week confirmed vulnerabilities within the Dominion contact screens that had been the foundation of a report from skilled witness College of Michigan professor Alex Halderman, who wrote that states ought to do a greater job of safeguarding their voting methods and that it’s harmful to depend on digital know-how that’s extra prone to hacking as a substitute of utilizing the safer hand-marked paper ballots to conduct elections.  

On Monday, election safety was the main focus of a letter despatched to the state election board from the vice chair of the Morgan County Democratic Occasion and the chairs of the Libertarian Occasion of Georgia and Cobb County Republican Occasion.

The request referred to as for the state board to implement a paper poll system after the federal authorities report confirms that it’s attainable for the digital methods to be compromised. The emergency paper poll system that’s already contemplated underneath state legislation must be used till applicable measures are taken to resolve the cybersecurity points.

“Georgia voters’ confidence continues to deteriorate within the face of election issues brought on by this complicated system,” the letter says. “As members of the State Election Board, you’re charged to take motion to make sure safe, truthful and orderly elections.

“The info are compelling and any argument on the contrary pales compared to the necessity to change to emergency balloting for the pending elections,” the letter continues. “Additional delays proceed to place the statewide elections at better threat, given the widespread understanding of the vulnerabilities of the system and the alleged leak of the system software program into unauthorized palms.”

The‌ ‌cybersecurity division’s report made it clear that there isn’t any proof that the methods have been compromised to affect the 2020 presidential election or subsequent ones, similar to Georgia’s major on Might 24. ‌Georgia’s voting system introduced scrutiny as one of many states focused within the 2020 presidential election as lies concerning the outcomes fueled conspiracy theories falsely claiming the poll tally was manipulated in order that then-President Donald Trump misplaced Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes to Democrat Joe Biden.

The‌ ‌report‌ ‌recommends states that use these Dominion methods conduct in depth post-election audits of ballots, defend the voting software program, together with printers and connecting cables, and carry out common software program updates.

The report suggests eliminating the bar code that comes printed on paper ballots. The report additionally encourages voters to assessment their votes on the printed ballots, which research present not often occurs. 

“As famous, we’re carefully engaged with election officers throughout the nation to assist them handle these vulnerabilities by making use of the mitigation really useful within the advisory,” wrote Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Safety Company. “Many of those mitigations, that are sometimes normal practices in jurisdictions the place these units are in use, are capable of detect exploitation of those vulnerabilities and in lots of circumstances would stop makes an attempt fully if diligently utilized, making it not possible {that a} malicious actor may exploit these vulnerabilities to have an effect on an election.”

Within the Dominion system, Georgians forged their votes on giant touch-screen units earlier than printing a paper poll containing their choices and a QR code, or a barcode, that’s scanned to tabulate the outcomes.

U.S. District Courtroom Choose Amy Totenberg has mentioned that digital voting methods pose safety dangers and that Dominion’s reliance on the QR code may not align with Georgia legislation. 

Dominion‌ ‌mentioned‌ ‌the advisory reaffirms the hundreds of hand counts and recounts which have demonstrated that the‌‌ ‌‌machines‌‌ ‌‌are‌‌ ‌‌correct‌‌ ‌‌and‌‌ ‌‌safe, noting that issues it outlines are restricted to poll marking units and never voting tabulators. 

Moreover, the corporate said that voters are nonetheless capable of independently confirm their poll earlier than casting it, and that there isn’t any proof that elections have been tampered with.

“These points require unfettered bodily entry to election tools, which is already prohibited by obligatory election protocols,” the assertion mentioned. “Each voting system, even hand counting, relies on these identical course of protections to make sure safe elections.

Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has criticized Halderm’s stories, calling the extent of entry he was given to the state’s election system akin to a burglar being given the keys and alarm code to a house earlier than breaking in.

However the state’s workplace has mentioned it’s been taking a look at methods to enhance the state’s voting system safety.

Opposite to the claims by Trump and plenty of of his allies, investigations by the FBI, the previous president’s personal lawyer common and different nationwide safety businesses discovered no widespread fraud or safety breaches with voting machines contributed to the 2020 election outcomes.

Amongst these urging state officers to comply with the cybersecurity report’s suggestions are nonpartisan nonprofit Verified Voting.

“The report underscores the significance of paper ballots, which bolster election safety as a result of they let voters confirm that their votes are recorded appropriately, and requires rigorously auditing ballots after every election to verify correct counts,” mentioned Pam Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting. “Paper ballots may also be totally recounted if wanted. The report addresses one particular voting system, however a few of these suggestions, together with these on bodily safety and chain of custody, are applicable for all jurisdictions whatever the voting system in use.”

The reconstructed State Election Board oversaw a Might 24 major that went comparatively easily, however the state’s election system and voting legislation will proceed to be underneath scrutiny main into this November’s midterm election,  in addition to the choices of the Secretary of State and State Election Board.

The board’s new chair, Duffey, is a federal judicial appointee of President George W. Bush in 2004 who retired in 2018. He’ll now function the nonpartisan board chair of a five-member board with three Republicans and one Democrat. The place remained vacant over the previous yr after Raffensperger misplaced the chairmanship following the passage of the election legislation overhaul.

Republican ‌lawmakers ‌who assist eliminating the partisan elected place of secretary of mentioned they wish to finish the partisanship related to the chairmanship.

In his function as chairman, Duffey units the agenda of a board that within the coming weeks or months, will probably obtain the outcomes of an investigation into Fulton County’s‌ ‌election‌ ‌operations and take care of a slew of different points.

Duffey served as deputy to unbiased counsel Kenneth W. Starr for the Arkansas portion of the Whitewater investigation into the actual property offers of then-President Invoice Clinton and spouse Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When he turned U.S. lawyer in 2001, Duffey ‌took over an enormous investigation into corruption at Atlanta Metropolis Corridor. 

Duffey mentioned his authorized experience is suited to deal with the complicated points earlier than the state election board.  

“Our democracy is based on residents collaborating within the course of to elect those that govern them,” he mentioned in a information launch. “I’m dedicated to working with my colleagues on the State Elections Board to carry out our obligation to guard the integrity of the election course of as a result of each Georgia voter is entitled to know their vote is safe and that it counts.”