Audit lauds state registration, other vote systems

Special to the WJH ATLANTA — Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger last week highlighted the findings of an independent audit of Georgia’s voter registration and list-maintenance system that prove Georgia is the best state in the nation for secure, accurate, and accessible elections.

Georgia’s voter rolls achieved 99.9 percent accuracy. According to the report, auditors estimated no more than 0.1 percent of the voter registration records would have allowed an individual to vote despite an unverified identity, invalid residential addresses, or unverified eligibility.

The Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts, after a request from the Georgia Senate Appropriations Committee, found voter-roll processes administered by the Secretary of State and county election directors comply with statutory requirements and align with best practices.

“Georgia runs the cleanest elections in the country because we’ve spent years doing the hard work to secure our systems, verify our voter rolls, and make sure that only eligible American citizens can vote,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “Now the General Assembly confirmed what Georgians already knew — our safeguards work, our voter lists are best in class, and Georgia elections are free, fair, and fast.”

The audit examined voter registration and list maintenance procedures, focusing on address and identity validation, list maintenance policies, statutory compliance, and alignment with best practices. Among the findings:

• Auditors found that just 0.1% of the voter registration records would have allowed an individual to vote with an unverified identity, address, or citizenship; • Independent verification confirmed that 99.8% of nearly 7.9 million voter registrations contained a Georgia REAL ID, with 98% REAL ID coverage across the voter list;

• More than 98% of voter registrations are checked for citizenship at the time of registration using DDS REAL ID data; Georgia’s automated safeguards that verify voter identity and eligibility prevent invalid residential addresses from being added to voter rolls.

State and county election officials maintain accurate voter rolls by using high-quality external data on deaths, felonies, and other eligibility changes in the required timeframe.

Election officials use best practices for qualitycontrol reviews, including duplicate-record checks, transaction reviews, and address validation. Secretary Raffensperger said the state continues to prioritize accurate voter rolls, spearheaded by the 2023 implementation of the Georgia Registered Voter & Information Systems, or GARVIS.