Raffensperger says audit shows primary results are accurate
By Kim Jarrett | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Georgia’s May 19 primary election was 99.99% accruate, according to audit results released Thursday by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
The ballot image audit analyzed more than 2 million ballot cards, resulting in 159 discrepancies.
“We are currently the only state in the nation conducting an audit at this granular level,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “This level of oversight ensures that our systems are not just operating but operating with near-perfect accuracy.
Of the discrepancies, 143 were from the 43,833 hand-marked ballots cast. The rest were found on votes using ballot-marking devices.
“This finding is significant,” Raffensperger said. “It demonstrates that the use of ballot-marking devices and our secure ballot counting devices is fundamentally more accurate and more secure than relying on hand-marked, hand-counted ballots.”
Georgia elections have been scrutinized since the 2020 election.
President Donald Trump has consistently questioned the election results not just in Georgia but also in other states where he lost the Electoral College votes.
Biden defeated Trump 306-232 in the Electoral College; Georgia contributed 16 to the Democrats’ win, not enough of a swing (32 points) to reverse the 74-point setback. Recounts did not find enough evidence to overturn the results.
The FBI raided a Fulton County Elections Office on Jan. 28, seizing more than 600 boxes of ballots, tabulator tapes and other election-related materials.
“These documents discuss an ongoing criminal investigation that is neither public nor known to all of the targets of the investigation,” FBI special agent Hugh Raymond Evans said in the warrant.
No arrests or criminal charges have been announced.
How the votes will be counted for the November midterm elections has not been resolved.
State lawmakers are returning to Atlanta on June 19 for a special session on QR codes. A 2024 law banned the use of the codes for counting ballots. The law goes into effect on July 1, but there is no funding.
Voters in the 13th Congressional District will vote July 28 on a successor to serve out the remainder of the late U.S. Rep. David Scott’s term. The Georgia State Election Board approved a resolution 3-1 on June 4 to allow election officials to use hand-marked ballots if the lawmakers did not resolve the situation.
“It is the explicit duty of the State Election Board to obtain uniformity in the practices and proceedings of superintendents, registrars, deputy registrars, poll officers and other officials and to maintain the legality and purity in all primaries and elections,” said Vice Chairwoman Janelle King, who presented the resolution and has often clashed with Raffensperger. “Election superintendents require ample lead time to secure supplies, train poll workers and inform the public. Waiting for a last-minute legislative action or judicial ruling without a pre-authorized plan will jeopardize the stability of the election.”