Unknown person casts a vote during election | Unsplash
Unknown person casts a vote during election | Unsplash
As the Georgia State Election Board met in a forum late last month, the conversation focused on reassuring board members and the general public that the state’s elections remain secure following the revelation of a breach of voting equipment in one county.
According to a recent report by FOX 5 Atlanta, the meeting included a presentation on state election law, an explanation of how the state’s voting machines work and a description of post-election audits. It also included a report on the breach of voting equipment in rural Coffee County.
"I think what happened in Coffee County was despicable," board Chairman William Duffey, a retired federal judge, told FOX 5 Atlanta after the meeting. "If the investigation finds evidence of crimes, the penalties should be significant to let people there and in other counties know that we are not going to put up with that."
Among comments throughout the meeting, Democratic Party board appointee Sara Tindall Ghazal argued elections have to balance three "sometimes-competing interests." In identifying the elements as security, accessibility and efficient administration, Ghazal added she has trust in “our election officials and in our voters to ensure that our elections will proceed smoothly and securely and that the outcome will reflect the will of the voters,” the report states.
According to documents already presented before the court, a computer forensics team hired by allies of then-President Donald Trump traveled to the elections office in Coffee County on Jan. 7, 2021, where they allegedly made complete copies of data and software on elections equipment and took the data away from the facility, FOX 5 reports.
This comes as security camera footage from the elections office shows local Republican Party and county election officials had been present when the copying took place, according to the report. Two men who have previously been involved with efforts to question the results of the 2020 election in a number of states reportedly visited the Coffee County elections office several times later that month, spending hours inside, FOX 5 reports.
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