Voter Security Advocates Ask For Changes To State Election Procedures Before Midterms

A motion filed Tuesday asks for a change to Georgia’s election procedures before next month’s midterms.

David Goldman / Associated Press file

A group of voters and election security advocates are suing Georgia’s Secretary of State again. They want a federal judge to order changes to how the state runs elections before November’s midterms.

The motion filed Tuesday asks a judge to mandate paper ballots for any midterm elections that go to runoffs and for all elections in 2019.

It also asks for an audit on absentee ballots, which are used to vote by mail.

“That will help voters get comfortable with the idea of voting by mail and knowing that their vote will be counted as intended,” said Marilyn Marks with the Coalition for Good Governance, one of the plaintiffs.

The same group of plaintiffs asked a federal judge earlier this year to make Georgia switch from it’s electronic voting machines to paper ballot before the midterms.

That request was denied, in part, because of the judge’s concerns making the change would place undue burdens on local elections officials.

Marks says she’s optimistic the judge will be on board with the plaintiff’s new requests.

“It will be a tight timeline, but we felt that on balance it was very very important to do what can be done.,” she said.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has yet to respond to WABE’s request for comment.