Issues

From the August 6, 2026 issue of "The Gold Dome and Beyond" the League of Women Voters Georgia Perspective on Issues

Today is the anniversary of the 1965 passage of the Voting Rights Act, ensuring that all voters had access to the polls. The League of Women Voters of Georgia picks today to start a series of newsletters on why we, you, the state and the nation can trust our electoral process leading up to the midterm elections on Nov. 3. Together, we will walk through the entire electoral system from top to bottom, front to back to show you how it works, which proves why it can be trusted.

To quote the late Rep. John Lewis, “The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy.” 

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Why Should We Trust the Vote?

First of all, a rigorous system of advance testing, progressive checks and balances, and meticulous verification at each step along the process ensures accuracy and fairness. Second, there has never been any proof of electoral fraud or vote tampering sufficient to change an election outcome despite repeated investigations. The instance of voter fraud in the United States is vanishingly small, and the system works to ferret it out and punish the perpetrators. We trust the vote because the vote has proven to be trustworthy.

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Why Does Georgia Use Electronic Voting?

There is no such thing as a foolproof technological system, but electronic voting is the most accurate method and the most easily tested for accuracy. Electronic voting machines are, first, certified to federal and state standards before they are ever put in place. Logic and accuracy testing takes place before a single vote is cast. A carefully documented chain of custody tracks the ballots from tabulation to outcome verification, and all data including ballots are securely maintained for years after an election. State law mandates risk-limiting audits after every election. If there are discrepancies, a larger audit, a full recount, even a hand recount may take place. In other words, there is more than one way to check whether the election has been secure, and states do not hesitate to use all of them when necessary. Voting electronically makes all of that possible because it generates a continuous string of data from voting machine to verification and certification. Mail-in ballots follow a similar process that is no less secure but neither as fast nor as foolproof as voting electronically.

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What's the Difference Between Electronic Voting and Paper Ballots?

People make mistakes, machines programmed accurately do not. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office audited the May, 2026, general primary. Of the 1.1 million ballots cast, 32,448 were marked by hand. In all, 23 discrepancies were found. All of those were on hand-marked ballots. Put another way, the electronic system was 100% accurate while hand-marked ballots were 99.93% accurate. That may not sound like a huge difference but spread it across the 8 million registered voters in Georgia. If we demand complete accuracy in our elections, hand-marked ballots cannot guarantee that. More than 98% of Americans live in states that provide a paper print out of their digital vote. That’s not the same as a hand-marked ballot but it is a secondary verification that the machine has accurately recorded the voter’s choices.

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How Does The System Ensure That Only Those Legally Registered Are Allowed to Vote?

The Secretary of State’s office uses the SAVE database (not to be confused with the proposed SAVE Act) from the Department of Homeland Security to verify citizenship. This generally happens automatically when you apply for a driver’s license or state ID. Georgia law requires proof of citizenship in order to vote. In 2024, the Secretary of State’s office identified 20 noncitizens who had registered to vote in Georgia. Of those, nine had cast a ballot, all of them prior to 2012 when the state implemented enhanced citizenship verification which is part of the Department of Drivers Services. All nine of the cases were referred to local prosecutors for investigation.

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Who Oversees The Accuracy of the Vote and Certifies the Outcome?

In Georgia, the ranking election official is the Secretary of State who is ultimately responsible for accuracy and who certifies the outcome when all votes have been tabulated. American elections are controlled by the 50 states and Congress, as mandated by the US Constitution. Congress must accept the state’s findings and give the final certification to the outcome. 

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The League of Women Voters of Georgia will publish a series of newsletters on our electoral process and why it guarantees accuracy and deserves our trust every week between now and the Nov. 3 midterms.  Please follow along as we chart the processes, the policies and the people that keep our elections free, fair and accurate. 

What is redistricting and how does it affect you?

Redistricting is the process of creating representational voting district maps for states and local communities. By defining the areas included in each mapped boundary, redistricting controls population and voting groups for US and local government offices.  Those put in office then determine  how resources are distributed for those areas.

The goal of the LWVUS People Powered Fair Maps program is to create fair and transparent, people-powered redistricting processes to eliminate partisan and racial gerrymandering in states nationwide.  

By building a national movement to advance redistricting nationally, we are working to put the power over the redistricting process back in the hands of the people.  

See more information about People Powered Fair Maps and related efforts on the Redistricting page on our LWV US website.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) introduced H.R. 14, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act on March 5, 2025. The bill aims to restore and modernize protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA).  It is co-sponsored by every House Democrat and supported by more than 140 organizations across the US.

The 1965 Voting Rights Act has been a crucial tool for curbing racial discrimination in voting and representation. In 2013, the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder stripped a key protection of the law, federal preclearance for voting law changes.  This has allowed states to enact a multitude of new discriminatory voting laws and  practices, including restrictive voter ID laws, polling place closures and voter registration roll purges. 

You can find out how to contact your US Congressman here to urge them to support this bill.