More than a dozen voters have used new paper-ballot voting machines in Conyers with no reported problems, the first step of a new pilot program to test the machines in Georgia.
“It’s fair to say we’re excited to get the ball rolling and partner with a good elections office and give voters a preview of what the future of voting may look like,” said Chris Harvey, Georgia's elections director.
“This kind of technology seems to be what a lot of states are going toward,” Harvey added. “This is becoming the new normal.”
The program for now is a one-off effort meant to demonstrate how Georgia could get past its current system, which is almost entirely electronic and has no paper trail.
The system, used statewide since 2002, was considered state-of-the-art when it was adopted 15 years ago but is now universally acknowledged by experts to be vulnerable to security risks and buggy software.
Early voting started in Conyers and across Georgia on Monday ahead of local contests and special elections scheduled for Nov. 7.
To find out more about the new machines and how much it could cost to implement the system fully, click here to read our premium story on myAJC.com.
To find out more about early voting, including where to go, click here to read our premium story on myAJC.com.
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