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Flawed Audit
The $1.5 million ballot image audit authorized by the General Assembly and conducted by Enhanced Voting falsely claimed 100% audit and near perfect accuracy statewide. Despite over 1,600 discrepancies in the SWD race, the audit reported that there were zero vote count discrepancies in Sumter County.
The two write-in votes in the Presidential race for qualified presidential candidate Peter Sonski were also excluded from the Sumter results.
Enhanced Voting’s audit excluded the Sumter SWD election from its list of reviewed contests and the legitimate write-in POTUS votes, but claimed 100% vote count accuracy for 100% of the contests in Sumter when it was clear that the cast vote records did not match the ballot images.
Secretary Raffensperger’s office issued a press release repeating the false claims of 100% audits and lack of such discrepancies among other misrepresentations.
The SOS website did not list the Sumter SWD election although it appeared to list all other similar elections.
Conflicts of Interest
Enhanced Voting simultaneously consolidated, calculated, reported and presented election results for official certification under a contract with the Secretary of State. It then “audited” its own results reporting work under a separate contract, a clear built-in conflict of interest set up by the Secretary of State’s office. The State Election Board then added insult to injury, ensuring that there would be no objective and independent investigation of the vote reporting, inaccurate audits, or conflicts of interest, by asking the Secretary of State to investigate the very situation that office had created and managed, and misrepresented to the public Our SEB complaint encompasses our concerns about the Secretary of State’s office involvement.
However, today, the State Election Board appears to have rejected our objection to their delegating the investigation to the Secretary of State, although we named the SOS office as one of the respondents because of potential wrongdoing on their part. It is inconceivable that the SEB would delegate the essential investigation of the complaint to one of the parties accused of involvement and wrongdoing. This decision calls into question the SEB’s own impartiality and seriousness in approaching their investigation duties.
Public Election Records Violations
The Sumter County Election Board has repeatedly denied access to public records, hindering accountability and transparency.
Proposed Legislative Reforms
To prevent such abuses, reforms are critical:
1. Limit Electronic Adjudication: Restrict use of electronic vote-changing tools and require thorough paper audit trails for all vote changes.
2. Strengthen Vendor and Procurement Oversight: Reinforce bans of state contracts that create conflicts of interest.
3. Ensure Independent Investigations: Require the State Election Board to promptly investigate violations in an independent and impartial manner, including those involving the Secretary of State’s office.
4. Mandate Transparency: Guarantee timely public access to election records to provide opportunities to detect and assist in the correction of the discrepancies in the canvassing process prior to certification
5. Enforce Reporting Requirements: Mandate prompt reporting by election officials of unlawful election activities, errors, and security breaches.
6. Effective Post-Election Audits: Implement audits with clear, enforceable objectives.
We urge lawmakers to champion these reforms and ensure a robust, transparent electoral system. We specifically ask lawmakers on committees with responsibility for election matters, appropriations, government procurement, and ethics to take prompt action. Your leadership is essential to restoring voter confidence in Georgia’s democracy.
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