Regional Industry & News

Trump pushes for mail in ballot changes as Georgia seats new election committee

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The Trump administration is urging the United States Supreme Court to uphold an executive order to curb mail in voting, despite the order being rejected by lower courts.

The order instructs federal agencies – namely the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration – to compile “citizenship lists” of eligible voters, and for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail in ballots only to people on that list come election time. States and cities that don’t comply could lose federal funding.

A lower court judge in Massachusetts recently rejected the order’s legal status, siding with 23 Democratic led states who argued election laws were up to states to decide, not the federal government.

The ask of the nation’s highest court comes as Trump pushes D.C. lawmakers to also pass his SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to vote.

“They should get the Act done. If they don’t get it done, it’s going to be a very bad thing for the party,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force 1 this week. “The Democrats are going to vote 100% against voter identification and proof of citizenship. 100%.”

During a special election in Georgia’s 13th District on Tuesday to fill the vacant seat of late-Congressman David Scott, voters were concerned that curbing mail in ballots based on a list could create confusion and error.

“We vote by mail most of the time as a matter of fact and I want to make it as easy to vote as possible,” said one voter, Phil Critcher. “Obviously we don’t want to have fraud, but this talk about fraud, I think it’s bogus.”

At the same time, Georgia lawmakers are now tasked with selecting a new method of tabulating votes in the state, after outlawing the currently used QR-code based system.

One likely scenario is a switch to hand-marked paper ballots, something 30-plus states already do. But many voters felt a wholesale change was unnecessary in the first place.

“The instances of voter fraud are so low, the system seems to be working well,” said voter John Lyons. “It’s not hard to press buttons on a screen. We all have embraced technology, why would we think that it’s a problem with voting? That just doesn’t really add up.”

This week, the Georgia legislative leaders announced the members who will sit on the newly formed Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee – the body that will make recommendations to fellow lawmakers on what new vote tabulating system might fit best.

The panel included Rep. Tim Fleming, the GOP nominee for secretary of state, as well as several members of the public appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, himself a former Georgia secretary of state.

Kemp appointed Deidre Holden, Paulding County Elections and Voter Registration supervisor; Chris Harvey, executive director of the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and former Elections Director and Chief Investigator in the Secretary of State’s Office; and Sam Hatcher, executive counsel for the governor’s office, to serve as the committee’s public members. Speaker Jon Burns appointed Rep. Victor Anderson (R–Cornelia) to serve as House co-chair, along with Representatives Tim Fleming (R–Covington) and Scott Holcomb (D–Atlanta). As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Assignments, Lt. Governor Burt Jones appointed Sen. Max Burns (R–Sylvania) to serve as Senate co-chair, along with Senators Bo Hatchett (R–Cornelia) and Rick Williams (R–Milledgeville).

“As a former Secretary of State and current Governor, I know firsthand just how much our system of governance rests on being able to trust the results of the ballot box,” said Governor Brian Kemp. “That’s why we’ve made it easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia, and I look forward to the recommendations from the committee on how we can preserve that trust.”