ATLANTA — Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is calling for a special hearing in the state Senate to look into why the Secretary of State is not installing new election software before the upcoming presidential election.
This is not like a software update that happens overnight on your iPhone while you sleep. No election equipment is connected to the internet, so the updates have to be done manually on every device.
It’s new Dominion voting systems software that would power every piece of election equipment in Georgia approved by federal election officials in the spring.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray has learned Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s plan is to hold off installing it until after the 2024 election.
That decision has Jones calling for legislative action. Jones released a statement Wednesday saying:
“We have given Dominion and the Office of Secretary Raffensperger more than enough time to address our concerns and unfortunately are still waiting on a response. The Senate Ethics Committee will be holding hearings this fall to consider proactive steps the General Assembly can take to ensure safe and secure elections for all Georgians.”
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But Raffensperger’s office sent a response to Jones and legislative leaders last month explaining why they are waiting to install the software on 48,000 pieces of election equipment.
“It’s our job to make sure safe and secure elections and accurate actions like we had in 2020 and in 2022. We know the system is safe, secure and accurate. If we go changing software that’s never been used anywhere in America, that’s the bigger, bigger, bigger risk,” said Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Gray spoke to state Sen. Max Burns on Wednesday, who chairs the ethics committee.
“I will say what we’re doing is our due diligence to continue to improve the process,” Burns said.
Burns said he wanted to be clear that he believes the current election system is safe and secure, but the Senate hearings would look into how to more rapidly implement upgrades.
“Certainly, we would like for it to be implemented in a more timely manner,” Burns said.
“This has never been used anywhere in America. We want to make sure it’s safe, secure and runs properly before we basically put the entirety of the state of Georgia in an untested submarine,” Sterling said.
The Secretary of State’s plan is to run pilot testing of the new software in five counties this fall before rolling it out statewide to avoid any bugs or problems leading to major issues in an election.
The Senate plans to hold the hearing in the fall.
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