ATLANTA — More than 98% of Georgia voters recently surveyed by the University of Georgia reported no issues when casting ballots for the 2024 presidential election. The survey was conducted by the School of Public & International Affairs, and 1,541 Georgians participated in mid-November.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said this approval rate exemplifies how the state is a model for the nation going forward.
"If you want to have high trust, high election integrity, easy to vote, hard to cheat, great experience, just follow what we are doing here in Georgia," Raffensperger said.
The survey results also show more than 80% of people were able to vote in under 10 minutes, and 98% felt safe casting a ballot.
Raffensperger, the state's top elections official, credits bills signed into law since he took office in 2018. Those bills impacted or changed election items, including voter registration, voter roll maintenance, absentee ballots, in-person voting and the counting of ballots.
"It started with House Bill 316, we followed up with SB 202, and this last session we had Senate Bill 189. Each one of those laws was so important for what it accomplished for the people of Georgia," Raffensperger said.
He also credited recent changes leading to 87% of people surveyed saying voters were counted in a timely fashion.
"We also put in this last year that all those early voting had to start being uploaded by 8 p.m., and people started seeing all those results start to fly up on the board," Raffensperger commented.
During the survey, voters were also asked about their confidence in election results, and 81% of survey participants said they were confident that votes in Georgia were counted as voters intended. But that figure dropped to 72% when asked if they were confident votes were counted accurately nationwide.
Georgia's Secretary of State believes that speaks to the state's election system.
"With all humility, look at the three bills we passed in Georgia. Follow our model," he commented. "This is something that California should take a look at, this is some of these other states where they don't have voter trust. People need to understand we have photo ID for all forms of voting, we are checking citizenship to make sure only American citizens are voting and then you have rapid results and make sure every single ballot has to come in at the Election Day."
With the 2025 legislative session under a month away, Raffensperger said the survey results don't support the need for drastic election changes currently in Georgia.
"When you have 98% approval, we are talking about minor tweaks," he said. "We've been working hard. Counties have been working hard. And so, we just want to sit back and look at some minor tweaks just to further give voters the confidence to make sure they understand their vote counts, it will be counted accurately."