PERRY, Ga. — House Bill 316 passed through the Georgia House of Representatives on Tuesday. The bill allows voters to make their candidate selections on touchscreens that are attached to printers that print paper ballots to be cast.
The bill is due to meet the Senate floor on Thursday and would then need approval from Governor Brian Kemp to become law. If that happens, board of elections offices would be tasked with rolling out the new system.
Houston County Elections Assistant Andy Holland said implementing it would not be a hard task.
"From what we've seen of the electronic ballot marking devices is that it wouldn't look to different from what we do now," Holland said.
The machines would be purchased by the state and not individual counties, but the counties would be responsible for the actual paper that goes in the machines. Lawmakers say the new system would cost $150 million to put in place and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state will be looking to buy between 27,000 and 30,000 machines.
Should the bill pass, lawmakers want the new system established by 2020. Holland said that would include training workers. Poll workers mandatory training will include one-and-a-half hours of hands-on experience with the machines.
"Each class, we devote half of it to hands on training with the equipment, actually touching the equipment, using the equipment and going through a mock election," Holland said.
The bill passed 101-72 with largely Republican support. They claim the extra paper step will help with security concerns and making audits and recounts easier. Holland said the combination of the two systems can give voters the best of both worlds.
"If there really is a question and the machines tabulate the votes correctly, you can open up that locked box. You can pull out all those pieces of paper and you can count it," Holland said.
Even with new machines, Holland said security will still be a top priority of the elections office. Poll workers will ensure that no tampering can occur by logging out of computers, locking them up, and always keeping them sealed.