The right to a secret ballot, free from prying eyes of nosy neighbors or election workers, is supposed to be protected by the Georgia Constitution and state laws.
But in many voting locations, it’s all too easy to snoop on the choices of another voter who is using Georgia’s tall, bright touchscreens, according to election security advocates pushing for changes.
The State Election Board will consider a proposed rule Tuesday that would allow voters to use paper ballots filled out by hand — rather than by machine — in polling places where ballot secrecy can’t be guaranteed.
If adopted, the rule change would end the statewide requirement for all in-person voters to use touchscreens, a goal of critics of the state’s voting technology who have for years sought ballots filled out by humans.
“You can be 50 feet away and still tell what’s being pressed, and if you’re familiar with the ballot content, you know what candidate is being selected,” said Marilyn Marks, executive director for the Coalition for Good Governance, an organization suing the state for hand-marked paper ballots. “It’s essential in these hyperpartisan times and the high-stakes elections we’ll be facing in 2024 that voter privacy be honored in an uncompromised manner.”
The secretary of state’s office says the touchscreens, called ballot-marking devices, should be positioned so that the screens face walls rather than voters waiting in line.
They’ve characterized purported privacy concerns as a way for election security advocates to undermine Georgia’s voting system, which has so far withstood the scrutiny of conspiracy theorists, courts and recounts.
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC
“We train the election workers to angle the BMD screens so that voters’ choices are not visible,” said Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office.
The proposed rule change highlights a conflict between election laws.
The Georgia Constitution requires a secret ballot, and state law calls for “voting in absolute secrecy so that no person can see or know any other elector’s votes.”
A different state law requires all in-person Georgia voters to use the same voting method — the Dominion Voting Systems touchscreens and ballot printers purchased before the 2020 election.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Previous efforts to invalidate touchscreens based on ballot secrecy concerns have failed.
The State Election Board ruled against Athens-Clarke County when it tried in March 2020 to switch to hand-marked paper ballots because of privacy concerns. The secretary of state’s office dismissed an administrative complaint several days later. And a South Georgia judge rejected a lawsuit over the same issue the month beforehand.
This time could be different, Marks said, because elections during the past three years have proved that many polling places lack enough space to position touchscreens in a way that shields voters’ choices.
Cliff Albright, co-founder of the group Black Voters Matter, said voter privacy is an essential requirement to help prevent the potential of intimidation or interference at the polls. But he warned that increased ballot protections shouldn’t result in a reduction of ballot boxes or longer lines.
“We are certainly in favor of adding extra protections for voter privacy, especially in the context where we’re seeing some states making it easier for outside observers, in some cases even borderline vigilante, to have access to polling places,” Albright said. “There’s a way to get more privacy without adding to the difficulties of voting.”
Many polling places surround touchscreens with blue cardboard panels, but they don’t prevent people from eavesdropping except from side angles. Curtains aren’t allowed because poll workers need to be able to ensure someone isn’t tampering with voting equipment.
Touchscreens in some counties, such as Fulton, are more exposed than in others. Fulton uses ballot cabinets that prop touchscreens higher than they would be on a table, making them more visible. DeKalb County plans to use the cabinets in upcoming elections as well.
“BMD screens are set up in a manner that makes many of the screens CLEARLY visible to polling staff and other voters waiting in line up to 20 feet away,” former Fulton election board member Vernetta Nuriddin wrote in a July 2020 email cited in court documents. “The enormous, costly cases that Fulton’s BMDs are housed in may be the problem. Because of those cases, casting a private ballot is impossible for our voters.”
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com
After the State Election Board’s public hearing on ballot secrecy Tuesday, it could vote on whether to move forward with a rule change or to reject the proposal.
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