Raffensperger says audit bolsters case for touchscreen voting system

Today’s newsletter highlights:

• Test your knowledge with our weekly news quiz.
• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock continues his national tour as 2028 buzz grows.
• Battle over the “bunker” continues.

Audit backs machines

Poll workers prepare for voters in November 2022 at the Park Tavern in Atlanta. (John Spink/AJC)

Key Georgia Republicans are embracing the President Donald Trump-inspired push to replace the state’s touchscreen voting system with hand-marked paper ballots.

But outgoing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is using his waning days in office to make one last case against the change.

An audit of all 1.11 million ballots cast in June’s runoff elections found just 23 “discrepancies,” his office said. Every one of them involved hand-marked paper ballots.

None of the 1,079,408 ballots completed on Georgia’s touchscreen ballot-marking devices showed a discrepancy.

“Human beings make human errors,” Raffensperger said. “The likelihood of a discrepancy between voter intent and what’s marked on a ballot is greatest when that ballot has been marked by hand.”

Raffensperger’s office said applying that same error rate to a presidential election with roughly 5 million ballots cast would result in about 3,500 discrepancies in hand-marked ballots.

The findings arrive as lawmakers are set to reopen the debate over Georgia’s voting system.

“We run elections with nearly perfect accuracy,” Raffensperger said. “And we will never stop reminding the public their machines are accurate, their counts are accurate and that elections in Georgia are accurate.”

Friday news quiz

The Sam Nunn federal building in Atlanta. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Good morning! How closely have you followed the news? Find out by taking our quiz. You’ll find the answers at the end of the newsletter.

The Oglethorpe County School District paid nearly $300,000 to settle a lawsuit over the firing of a former Georgia teacher of the year finalist. Why was the teacher removed from the classroom?

• A) The teacher had her students read the young adult novel “All Boys Aren’t Blue,” which had been banned by the district because of LGBTQ+ themes.
• B) The teacher posted a quote from Charlie Kirk about gun deaths shortly after the activist was assassinated.
• C) The teacher took a class on a field trip to the Georgia Museum of Art, where students viewed nude paintings.
• D) The teacher played music for students during a Friday pizza party that included songs with swear words.

Atlanta has one of the largest clusters of federally owned workspaces outside of Washington. What federal agency is looking at vacating its regional hub in Atlanta for a smaller space?

• A) Internal Revenue Service
• B) Department of Veterans Affairs
• C) Department of Agriculture
• D) Environmental Protection Agency

Georgia regulators have ordered a halt to construction of a “pop-up” power plant. What is the power plant supposed to supply electricity for?

• A) A new subdivision marketed to people as being “off the grid.”
• B) An Amazon distribution center seeking to protect against power outages.
• C) A new data center looking to avoid delays by staying off the grid.
• D) A milk processing center that uses lots of energy to stay cold.

The University of Georgia, citing low enrollment, is reviewing one of its majors. What is it?

• A) African American studies
• B) German
• C) Art history
• D) Women’s and gender studies.

‘Bunker’ open?

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger attends budget hearings at the state Capitol in January. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

A judge ruled Raffensperger doesn’t have to let the public watch his office receive vote totals on Election Day. But the battle might not be over yet.

This week, state Sen. Greg Dolezal and others appealed a Fulton County Superior Court judge’s ruling. And the Republican-controlled State Election Board approved a new rule requiring all vote tabulation and consolidation to occur in public.

State election officials receive and publish unofficial results on election night in a facility some have dubbed “the bunker.” State officials don’t count the votes. That happens at the local level, in public.

Still, some board members don’t like that Raffensperger won’t let them watch.

“It’s the opportunity for manipulation of voter results that we’re trying to protect against,” board member Carolyn Roddy, a Georgia Republican Party appointee, said. “It’s not the fact that they’re doing anything wrong. It’s that they could if they wanted to.”

Robert Sinners, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office, noted the courts have already ruled on this issue and added the board can’t pass rules contrary to Georgia law.

That’s one reason why Georgia courts blocked some of the board’s rules in 2024.

“Apparently they have not learned their lesson,” he said.

Warnock watch

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., hypes up the crowd during a voting rights rally on Saturday, May 16, 2026, in Montgomery, Ala. (Mike Stewart/AP)

Warnock was in Indianapolis last night to kick off the Black Expo service.

And he’s headed to Worcester, Massachusetts, in September to speak at the United Church of Christ’s Southern New England Conference.

It’s part of a sweep of national visits the Georgia Democrat is making as he sets the stage for a potential White House bid.

However, it hasn’t been all work for Georgia’s junior senator. Earlier this week he attended the Argentina vs. Egypt World Cup match in Atlanta with his son, Caleb.

Warnock ran into U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, who was also there with his son, JP.

Voter registrations

Georgia voting stickers are displayed at the Buckhead Library in 2024. (Jason Getz/AJC)

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office says it has received multiple reports of groups trying to register dead people to vote, including one case that appeared to target a family’s deceased dog.

Raffensperger’s office announced Thursday it was investigating Ready to Register and other organizations. The Washington Post reported Ready to Register had taken steps to conceal the identity of its backers. But the source code on the group’s website appears to be linked to another group connected with Elon Musk’s political action committee.

“Groups like this highlight the unreliability of commercial data,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “Georgia maintains one of the cleanest voter rolls in the nation through continuous list maintenance and citizenship verification. These outside organizations don’t use those standards. Instead, they flood mailboxes with inaccurate solicitations that confuse voters and waste election officials’ time.”

The move comes amid a push from the Trump administration to insert the federal government into state elections and vet state voter rolls. The U.S. Department of Justice has demanded unredacted copies of the state’s voter registration lists and warned state election officials that they could face criminal prosecution if noncitizens cast ballots, which is already illegal and exceedingly rare.

Federal officials have said they need unredacted voter rolls to ensure compliance with federal law related to maintaining such registration lists. Georgia and other states already have processes to do that. The Justice Department has faced a slew of roadblocks in its quest for registration lists. Of its 30 cases against states, it has lost 11. The rest are still pending, including a case against Georgia.

Listen up

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