Ga. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says Georgians should trust elections process, results

Georgia’s elections chief says voters should have high confidence in the security of November’s election as the critical swing state tries to avoid a repeat of the chaos that swirled around the 2020 contest.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said all voters must provide photo identification when submitting a ballot. Also, a post-election audit will compare scanned images of paper ballots to the machine tally.

He said state systems are doing a good job of keeping non-citizens and out-of-state persons off of Georgia’s voter rolls.

“We want voters to have high trust, high confidence,” Mr. Raffensperger told a Washington Post Live event. “People can say things, but at the end of the day the winner will be the winner.”

Georgia is one of the biggest prizes in this year’s presidential election. President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic nominee, won the state in a narrow upset in 2020.

Then-President Donald Trump, who is the Republican nominee again, famously called Mr. Raffensperger in January 2021 and urged him to “find” enough votes to give him the victory in Georgia.

The situation led to a criminal indictment against Mr. Trump. However, the case is on hold because of a controversy surrounding Fulton County District Attorney Fani Wilis’ romantic relationship with a lead investigator.

Mr. Raffensperger refuted Mr. Trump’s fraud claims in 2020 and early 2021 and says that people need to have confidence in the system in this cycle.

He said election measures are so detailed that even Georgia’s ballot paper is special — it has “security fibers” embedded in it and features the state seal.

“It’s not something you got from the local office supply store,” he said.

Mr. Raffensperger, however, is among those opposing a rule from the Georgia Elections Board that requires precinct workers to hand-count ballots on Election Night, saying it is not a good practice and could lead to delays and conspiracy theories. The rule is being challenged in court.

“We don’t support it, but the judge will make that determination,” Mr. Raffensperger said.

Georgia is politically divided and will award 16 electoral votes in November, making it one of a handful of states that could decide who enters the White House.

Early voting starts Tuesday across Georgia, despite damage from Hurricane Helene in parts of the state.

Mr. Raffensperger declined to say who he plans to vote for in November. But he said the Republican Party would benefit from candidates who prize “integrity,” “character” and “being a public servant.”