Georgia to audit one county's signatures on ballot envelopes
Georgia’s secretary of state has announced an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one county after receiving a report that officials there may not have properly checked signatures
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Georgia's secretary of state on Monday announced an audit of signatures on absentee ballot envelopes in one county after receiving a report that officials there may not have properly checked signatures.
Absentee ballots cannot be traced to individual voters, and the vote tallies in the presidential election will not change as a result of the audit.
“Now that the signature matching has been attacked again and again with no evidence, I feel we need to take steps to restore confidence in our elections," Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said during a news conference as he announced the audit that will focus on Cobb County in suburban Atlanta.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is to help with that audit, which is expected to be completed in two weeks, Raffensperger said. He added that his office is working with a university on a third-party signature match statewide audit study, a step he said is supported by the governor and state House speaker.
President Donald Trump and his allies have made repeated baseless claims of widespread election fraud and, among other things, have demanded an audit of the signature matches. The president has harshly criticized Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, both fellow Republicans.
“I am glad Secretary Raffensperger has finally taken this necessary step to begin restoring confidence in our state’s election processes," Kemp said in an emailed statement after Raffensperger's announcement. "I have called for a signature audit repeatedly since the November 3rd election. As Georgians head back to the polls for the January 5th runoffs, it is absolutely vital for every vote cast to be legal and for only legal votes to be counted.”
The president has also asserted incorrectly that an agreement entered into by Raffensperger earlier this year to settle a lawsuit brought by Democrats prevents election officials from verifying signatures on absentee ballot envelopes.
Georgians can request absentee ballots either through an online portal that Raffensperger established in September or by submitting an application. For online requests, they provide their driver's license number and date of birth to verify their identity. If they use an application, they must sign it for verification.
When an application is received, county election workers compare the signature on the application to the voter's signature on file, and if it is consistent, a ballot is mailed, Raffensperger has said.
Before submitting an absentee ballot, a voter must sign an oath on an outer envelope. When county election officials receive an absentee ballot, they must compare the signature to the absentee ballot application if one exists and to the signature on file. The signatures must be consistent but don't have to match exactly, Raffensperger has said.
If the signature doesn't match, the voter is notified and can take other steps to verify identity. If the signature does match, the ballot is separated from the envelope to protect the right to ballot secrecy guaranteed by Georgia law.
Raffensperger said during the news conference at the state Capitol that his office received a report that Cobb County “may not have conducted a proper signature match in June," and that is why he decided to call for an audit.
Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs said absentee ballot envelopes from the June primary and November general elections would be audited.
Cobb County elections director Janine Eveler said in a statement that her office would help with the audit but is awaiting a court order.
“I’m confident any audit would find our office followed procedures and only counted ballots that were processed correctly,” Eveler said. “Even though our resources are already stretched thin by advance voting and preparations for the January 5 runoff, we will help this process move as expeditiously as possible.”