Last week’s release of a report detailing potential security problems in Georgia’s election system caught the attention of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and plenty of Republicans who have long raised questions about the integrity of Georgia’s voting system.
The report detailed vulnerabilities that could allow a hacker to change votes. A separate, simultaneous report found the risk of hacking to be remote, given standard safety procedures used by election officials. The dueling findings were produced as a part of an ongoing lawsuit over Georgia’s Dominion voting machines and unsealed last week by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg, the AJC’s David Wickert reports.*
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says his office has already addressed the vulnerabilities, with one exception: the state has not yet upgraded to the latest version of its Dominion software and doesn’t plan to do so until after the 2024 elections. Raffensperger said the newest software needs more testing, and he noted that no jurisdiction has deployed it yet.
Nonetheless, Jones wants more information.
“I’ve requested a meeting with the Secretary of State’s Office to discuss the recent report outlining potential vulnerabilities within our voting system and their decision to wait until after the 2024 elections to address it,” Jones said in a statement Tuesday.
Loeffler released a statement last week going further. “It’s incomprehensible that he has now announced, to every criminal and malign foreign actor, that the security flaws will not be fixed for another two years,” she said.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
In his own statement, Raffensperger welcomed the meeting with Jones and said the machines are ready.
“Georgia’s voting system is secure and battle-tested and we welcome all opportunities to point by point detail how the state is a national leader in secure, fair and accessible elections,” he said.
The back-and-forth isn’t just Loeffler and Jones ganging up on a favorite target of GOP activists. It’s a likely prelude to the 2026 campaign, with two likely gubernatorial contenders taking aim at Raffensperger, a third possible candidate for governor or higher office that same year.
Nor are they alone in their intraparty criticism. New state GOP chair Josh McKoon, whom Raffensperger defeated in his 2018 GOP primary, also chimed in, saying that voters are right to be “dismayed that no attempt is being made to address” the vulnerabilities in the report.
Don’t be surprised to see the state GOP play an even more aggressive public role. Its newly installed executive board includes several hard-line Republicans who continue to support Trump’s disproven election fraud lies and see the report as one of many chances to insist they’ve been right all along.
* An earlier version of the Jolt described both reports as produced by expert witnesses. Only the author of the first report was certified as an expert witness by the court. The second was produced by cybersecurity professionals at the National Election Security Lab.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
NO TAKEOVER, FOR NOW. Georgia’s State Election Board decided against moving forward with a state takeover of elections in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold.
The state board vote was unanimous, the AJC’s Mark Niesse reported.
Members concluded that Fulton made significant corrections to election operations over the course of a performance review started by Republican state legislators under a voting law that passed the General Assembly in 2021.
Though State Election Board members voted against replacing Fulton’s bipartisan election board, they also urged the county to continue its progress in preparation for next year’s presidential contest. But because of the new law, the Georgia board will continue to have the authority to take over Fulton or other county boards if it sees fit.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
COFFEE STAIN. Speaking of the state elections board, its chairman tells WXIA-TV’s Doug Richards he’s irked that a GBI investigation into a breach by Trump allies there after the 2020 elections is still going on.
More:
The state election board chairman, former federal judge William Duffey Jr., said he's frustrated that months have gone by with no conclusion to an investigation into an election security breach in south Georgia.
A GBI spokeswoman said Tuesday the investigation into the case is ongoing.
Surveillance video has circulated for nearly 10 months showing officials in south Georgia's Coffee County escorting into the county election office operatives connected with then-president Donald Trump. It happened on January 7, 2021 — the day after the U.S. Capitol attack by Trump supporters.
The Coffee County video indicates they spent hours in the secure area of the office, scanning what was supposed to be secure election software. The election director, Misty Hampton, was forced out weeks after the January 2021 breach. The GBI has said for months it is investigating, but little else.
“I'm a bit frustrated that it's taking so long for the investigation to be concluded and decisions made about it," Duffey said Tuesday.
The AJC’s Mark Niesse first wrote about the lack of movement in the case in April. He also has noted that the Republicans in the General Assembly who represent Coffee County never asked for a performance review of the election office there, while Republicans in Fulton County were quick to ask for one for Fulton County and threaten a state takeover.
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Credit: Chris Day/AJC
Credit: Chris Day/AJC
LISTEN UP. Two recent landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions could change the Georgia political landscape permanently: the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the recent 5-4 decision upholding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a challenge to Alabama’s congressional maps. We’re looking at both in the midweek edition of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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STAMP UNVEILING. There isn’t much bipartisanship happening in the U.S. House these days, but the occasion of honoring late civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis has provided a welcome change of pace.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will lead the ceremony this afternoon to unveil the postage stamp that will go on sale next month in Lewis’ honor. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Linda Earley Chastang, who serves as CEO of the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation, will also be in attendance.
Credit: USPS
Credit: USPS
The stamp will be available starting July 21, with a debut at Atlanta’s main post office, nearly three years after the Georgia congressman’s death from pancreatic cancer.
Today’s ceremony at the Capitol will unveil the final design for the stamp. A preliminary design unveiled in December included a depiction of Lewis based on a photograph in the Aug. 26, 2013 issue of Time magazine. The margin paper, also known as selvage, is expected to showcase a second photograph of Lewis taken in 1963 by famed photographer Steve Shapiro when he Lewis was a young activist in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House will attempt to override President Joe Biden’s veto of legislation blocking his student loan forgiveness policies.
- The House will also consider a revised censure resolution targeting U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California for his past criticism of former President Donald Trump.
- The Senate has more confirmation votes scheduled.
- Special counsel John Durham will testify before the House Judiciary Committee.
- President Joe Biden will welcome India Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House.
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Credit: Contributed photo
Credit: Contributed photo
BROOKHAVEN MAYOR. Brookhaven City Council member John Park announced this morning that he is running for mayor of Brookhaven. Park first joined the city council after a 2014 special election and subsequently won reelection for full terms in 2017 and 2021.
Lauren Kiefer, who serves as the interim executive director of the Peachtree Creek Greenway and chair of the Brookhaven Arts and Culture Commission, announced her candidacy for mayor last month.
Incumbent Mayor John Ernst is term-limited. The mayoral election will be held in November.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s hard to get by in this world on looks alone. But Lou Robbins, our Dog of the Day, sure makes it look easy.
This gorgeous three-year-old English setter came to us from loyal AJC subscriber John F. Robbins with a photo and not much else. We don’t know more about her, other than her apparent habit of shredding both toys and rugs, but do we need to? With a face like that, all is forgiven.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
