125 Years Later, Still No Secret Ballot in Georgia

Still No Secret Ballot--125 Years Later

Georgia State and Local Officials,

Georgia voters face continuing violations of their constitutional right to cast a truly secret ballot—an essential cornerstone of democratic elections. Georgia’s non-secret ballot elections stand alone in the nation, defying this fundamental principle of fair elections. The duty to conduct secret ballot elections is a responsibility of each county as well as the state.

We sent this email to our members and supporters today to ask for their help in this essential fight—a battle few imagined would be necessary in 2025, more than 125 years after the secret ballot became the standard in the U.S. We seek your commitment to resolve this long-standing constitutional rights violation in 2025.

Until the late 1890's, American voters typically cast public votes under the scrutiny of powerful local figures.

The reforms of the 1890s sought to ensure free elections by guaranteeing an anonymous ballot.

Ironically, despite Georgia having some of the strongest ballot secrecy laws in the nation, these rights are being grossly infringed, undermining the integrity of “free and fair” elections. The state’s touchscreen voting system compromises secrecy in multiple ways, including the use of brightly lit, upright touchscreens that display voters’ choices to onlookers, poll watchers, election officials, and even the press.

See the photos below from Georgia polling places that illustrate part of the widespread problem. This is the 21st-century version of the public voice voting of the 18th and 19th centuries.

And there is an even more insidious, high-tech invasion of Georgians’ voting privacy that has received little attention. Digital ballot images and vote data—intended to enhance transparency—have instead introduced another layer of risk, because of flawed software. Ballots can be traced back to voters in many cases because the data is unlawfully recorded in the sequence voters scanned their ballots. After more than two years of complaints and expert warnings, Secretary Raffensperger has finally acknowledged the traceability problem. But instead of addressing it, he has attempted (ineffectively) to obscure the data, obstructing election transparency and destroying the audit trail. Even as Raffensperger attempts to conceal the traceable information from the public, the insiders (county officials, election workers, state officials, and vendors), still possess the unlawful traceable ballot data.

The consequences are severe. For five years, voters have reported feeling intimidated and unable to vote their conscience under the watchful eyes of bosses, coworkers, landlords, church leaders, or community influencers—especially in small community polling places where local figures openly monitor voters.

There is no way to estimate how many voters fail to participate, or even worse, cast votes under silent coercion because of the threat of having to answer for their preferred ballot choices.

See this video story by 11Alive: (Click the link.)

This chilling reality is unacceptable and un-American, yet it continues unabated. Is the refusal of officials to act because the lack of ballot secrecy provides a partisan advantage? Or are leaders unwilling to admit the fatal flaws of the $150 million voting system?

CGG has led the fight to end this violation of Georgia voters’ rights. We’ve filed lawsuits, formal complaints with the State Election Board, and under HAVA, and made repeated appeals to officials. Yet, the Secretary of State has ignored the problem, even rejecting a Dominion software upgrade that the vendor claims could mitigate traceable ballot data—a flaw identified by cybersecurity expert Professor Alex Halderman in 2022.

Despite five years of complaints and the availability of low-cost solutions, the State Election Board and Secretary Raffensperger have refused to act. The Board’s primary statutory responsibility is the enforcement of election law. However, the Board, in bipartisan agreement, absurdly claims their hands are tied, theorizing that the 2019 statute adopting the touchscreen system supersedes voters’ constitutional rights to a secret ballot.

Georgia voters deserve the freedom to vote without fear, coercion, or intimidation as their constitution guarantees and federal and state law requires. As we look to 2025, restoring the fundamental right to a secret ballot is one of CGG’s renewed priorities in this highly politicized climate. We need your commitment to roll back the ongoing violations so that every Georgian can vote their conscience freely. While other organizations have stepped back from this issue, fearing it could reduce turnout, we believe now—without major elections looming—is the time to solve this problem.

Please join our list to receive news and explainers as we review our findings , concerns, and recommendations coming out of the November 2024 election.

Marilyn Marks

Executive Director

Coalition for Good Governance

Marilyn@uscgg.org

About Coalition for Good Governance

Coalition for Good Governance is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting voters’ rights to secure, fair, and transparent elections with verifiable outcomes. The Coalition works to ensure that every voter can cast a completely secret ballot and have confidence in the accuracy and integrity of election results.