A state committee charged with recommending changes to Georgia’s voting machines is slated to hold its final meeting Thursday in Atlanta.
The Secure, Accessible & Fair Elections Commission plans to take a final round of public comment before discussing recommendations that have come out of three meetings with voting rights advocates, cybersecurity experts, elections officials and vendors.
Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-Rome, said he expects action during the 2019 Georgia General Assembly session that starts Monday.
Lumsden said he’s looked at the voting machine options being proposed, but he’s waiting for committee hearings in the Legislature to decide where he stands.
The two leading proposals appear to be a digital machine that provides a hard copy for review before the voter casts the ballot and a paper ballot marked with a pen that can be digitally scanned.
“One system may be more costly than another but I think we need a system that gives us the most accurate representation of what the voter wants,” Lumsden said. “We’ll see how it plays out, but this is something we will have to do in the course of this session.”
The SAFE Commission is co-chaired by Secretary of State Robyn Crittenden and Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem. They were appointed by Gov.-elect Brian Kemp in his former role as secretary of state.
Thursday’s public meeting is set from 9 a.m. to noon on Room 606 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, 18 Capitol Square in Atlanta.
The bipartisan panel includes Brad Raffensperger, the Republican secretary of state-elect; several Democratic state legislators; a representative each from the state Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties, a number of elections and security professionals and two voters-at-large.
SAFE Commission proceedings and presentations are posted on the Georgia secretary of state website.
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