ATLANTA — State senators tangled with state election officials Wednesday over a postponed software update for the state’s computerized election system.
Software updates are a fact of life for everything from smartphones to computerized voting systems -- but in Georgia, that update will stay mostly on hold.
Given that the state has some 30,000 computerized ballot marking devices spread across 159 Georgia counties, the secretary of state’s office decided that there was not enough time to conduct the software update in time for the statewide primary in March.
"We’re talking about thousands of man hours involved in this undertaking and a significant period of time," said Charlene McGowan, chief counsel to the Georgia secretary of state's office.
She spoke to the state senate ethics committee, which oversees election legislation. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger did not appear due to a commitment to speak to a Rotary Club in Thomasville, his office said.
An official with the Dominion voting system -- which sold Georgia its voting machines -- told committee members the 2024 election would still be secure with the old software.
Some senators were skeptical, with sharply worded questions about the timing of election system updates.
Beyond the contentious exchanges, McGowan drove home the point that a too-quick software update was more dangerous to election integrity than keeping the old software in place for another year.
"There is always a risk involved when you make changes to your election system, particularly especially a major system change like this. And we don’t want to needlessly introduce more risk when we want our local election officials to succeed and our elections to succeed," she said.
Some senators suggested updating at least some of the state’s 30,000 or so election machines before next spring’s Republican primary.
But election officials told senators they couldn’t do that because it would be illegal under a law they passed to protect election integrity.