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CLICK ON THIS LINK
to view WXIA’s Doug Richards’ report on the 1962 “stolen election.”
Through that experience, Carter learned that without strict election process oversight, transparency, and vigilance, partisan insiders can undermine fair elections. Tragically today, in his home state of Georgia, flawed technology, restricted transparency, and systemic obstruction of oversight often erode the ability to detect and correct electoral irregularities. Even more troubling is the complacency of many Georgia political leaders, who now accept unverifiable election results from the compromised computers without scrutiny, and discourage and shame those who take a public stand against the irregularities and lack of basic controls. They seem to fear that acknowledging system and process weaknesses will undermine voter confidence and participation, failing to understand that confidence must be earned, not merely marketed.
Under President Carter’s leadership, The Carter Center established internationally recognized standards for democratic elections. While many nations have improved their electoral processes leveraging these principles, Carter’s home state of Georgia has turned its back on those tenets of fair elections, consistently now moving in the opposite direction. Below, we highlight a few of the critical principles he advocated, how Georgia has failed to uphold them, and therefore why we continue our advocacy for an overhaul of Georgia’s election practices.
Key Election Obligations and Standards
(Links to specific standards from The Carter Center provided below)
1. Secret Ballot
“Voting must be by secret ballot so that ballots cannot be linked with voters who cast them, and voters can cast their ballot without fear of intimidation.”
In Georgia, most voters can no longer exercise their right to a secret ballot. Touchscreen voting machines publicly display voters’ choices, visible to poll watchers, election officials, and even the press violate federal laws, the Georgia constitution, and state statutes. Additionally, scanned ballot images and electronic records of the vote are assigned identifiers that can be traced back to individual voters under a variety of conditions. Despite countless warnings and complaints to the Secretary of State, the State Election Board, and county officials, these blatant constitutional violations of ballot secrecy remain unaddressed by officials of both parties.
2. Vote Counting Accuracy, Verifiability, and Transparency
Georgia’s vote counting fails fundamental transparency standards on many fronts. For example, too many counties keep supporting election records and incremental vote tallies concealed after election night, leaving candidates and the public unable to detect errors until after certification, when it’s too difficult to challenge irregularities.
The Carter Center properly calls for routine audits of election results, but unfortunately, audits cannot be conducted on Georgia’s unverifiable touchscreen voting system because the computer-generated ballots themselves are not trustworthy. Officials’ claims of “audited results” in Georgia are irresponsible misrepresentations and simply a misinformation campaign to build voter confidence without evidence-based support for that confidence. The “Risk Limiting Audits” and claims made by Secretary Raffensperger are a distraction to sound principles of elections, rather than a verification of correct outcomes. Fortunately, over 70% of the nation’s ballots are not plagued with this problem and can generate verifiable, auditable election results in most other states which adhere to more democratic norms.
Carter insisted on the important element of impartial observation of election process, which Georgia does not allow. Only partisan political parties can participate in in-person oversight in Georgia, and it is often quite restricted, with observers frequently kept at a distance or outside the closed doors where vote counting is conducted. We continue to urge the State Election Board and the General Assembly to provide far more meaningful oversight access.
3. Prevention of Corruption in Vote Counting
In 2021, Georgia’s current voting system was assessed by leading voting system cybersecurity experts to be dangerously subject to exploitation and the DHS/CISA (Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency) verified the vulnerabilities in 2022 recommending prompt mitigation for the security design flaws to reduce risks of electronic manipulation. But Georgia officials did not act to heed the grave warnings.
Subsequent to experts’ and CISA reports on vulnerabilities, it was learned that the voting system was compromised by the 2021 theft and illegal distribution of voting system software, but alarmingly, the resulting elevated risk of electronic subversion remain unaddressed Despite this distressing breach, county and state officials conducted elections in 2022 and 2024 without mitigating the risk of undetectable manipulation, or even investigating the breaches. Yet, no “audit” could have the ability to detect potential manipulations, a major flaw which officials don’t disclose. The largest breach of a voting system in the nation’s history remains largely un-investigated. Elections conducted under such conditions cannot claim legitimacy under democratic principles of fair elections.
Unfortunately, because Georgia’s touchscreen voting system cannot be secured against fraud, and is not reliable or auditable, no one can scientifically determine whether Georgia’s election results have been subverted by bad actors engaged in corruption. Adoption of The Carter Center Election Standards and Requirements for Voting Technologies would safeguard Georgia’s elections. It is simple and requires no new equipment, but does demand the acknowledgement of the overwhelming evidence of the current lack of security.
4. Effective Remedies for Election Problems
The Carter Center requires that elections have resilience by providing effective, not hollow, remedies for correction of genuine problems. Georgia imposes nearly insurmountable barriers to remedying electoral discrepancies. From delayed access to critical data to absurdly short deadlines for challenges, the system is designed to obstruct all but the massively funded candidates from seeking remedies.
For example, in November, Gwinnett County withheld incremental ballot counts until after certification, denying candidates in close races essential information about the current vote tallies. When a recount was ordered, officials barred observers from monitoring critical processes, absurdly claiming that “a recount is not part of an election, so election oversight rules do not apply.” Such policies make lawsuits the only recourse—an inaccessible unaffordable option for most, not effective remedies that fair election standards require.
5. Honoring the Rule of Law
“Laws and Procedures must not be arbitrarily applied.”
Georgia indeed has numerous robust election laws, but widespread and uneven disregard for these laws undermines their effectiveness, and fails to protect voters’ interest. Unlawful practices persist unchecked, eroding the integrity of the state’s elections. A few specific additional examples are here.
The fact that a massive voting system breach could have occurred four years ago, with no attempt by state officials to hold anyone accountable for the software theft and distribution, speaks volumes about Georgia officials’ failed commitment to the rule of law concerning elections and their security. Neither parties’ political leaders have demanded investigations or accountability. The State Election Board has authority and subpoena power for such investigations. But the Board, possibly for political reasons, lacks the will to expose what happened, why, and the resulting risks to Georgia voters’ ability to cast an accountable ballot.
What does it say about Georgia officials’ disrespect for the Rule of Law when Secretary Raffensperger, through his attorneys, represented to the federal court in April and June 2022 that he had an “active and ongoing investigation underway on the Coffee County breach, when in fact he had ordered that his investigators “hold off” on any such investigation? When the federal court judge ordered Secretary Raffensperger to testify about his knowledge of the voting system theft, he defied her order, appealed the ruling, and successfully avoided testifying under oath about the breaches. Only when the Rule of Law is respected by officials can Georgia’s elections recover from their shortcomings.
Conclusion
It is a bitter irony that the election standards President Carter helped establish in so many nations have been ignored in recent years by county and state officials in his beloved home state. Georgia’s elections cannot be considered democratic until these glaring deficiencies are addressed by Georgia officials at both the county and state levels. They must be addressed promptly in the offices of the Secretary of State and the State Election Board, and in the General Assembly.
We call on election officials, courts, lawmakers, and law enforcement to confront Georgia’s electoral shortcomings and embrace the democratic principles President Carter taught. Only then can Georgia begin to restore the integrity and trustworthiness of its elections.
At the Coalition for Good Governance, we are steadfast in our commitment to Georgia voters’ rights to fully democratic elections. Inspired by President Carter’s legacy, we will continue to focus on improving Georgia’s election practices and advocating for the adoption of the principles he championed worldwide. Together, with your support, we can work toward restoring trust, transparency, and fairness in Georgia elections, ensuring they meet the high standards that President Carter led the world to embrace.
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