ATLANTA — Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger announced on Wednesday the state would be moving to a new voter registration management system ahead of the 2022 primary season.
Raffensperger said the system - the Georgia Registered Voter Information System, or GRVIS - would be online by March.
The secretary's office clarified that the system was a back-end, data management system and would not affect how voters individually register to vote.
"Nothing about the registration or voting processes changes from the voter perspective," a statement said.
Raffensperger said that the software and data servicing company Salesforce would provide the "baseline architecture" for the "backbone" of the new system, and that the state would be partnering with a technology consulting firm, MTX Group, in implementing the new system.
Raffensperger otherwise did not provide many details on how the system will look and work, but said it would be a "faster, better, friendlier and more secure system" both for state and local elections officials.
"This new system is more advanced, more secure, and more user-friendly and will give our election directors and my office new tools to better manage our election efforts," the secretary said.
He stated it would be housed on servers using the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, which is a security system used by the Department of Defense and other "highly sensitive, high-target federal agencies."
Raffensperger said the decision to implement a new registration information system came after "months of assessment and analysis and meetings."
The secretary added that the current system, ElectioNet, or eNet, was first implemented in Georgia in 2013 and while it had "done a good job" officials had opted for a new system because "technology evolves just as our threat environment evolves."
Raffensperger said implementing the new system by the spring would be a "big lift" but that counties would be working with state advisors "to get this fully implemented for elections in spring." He said the costs of implementing a new system would come from existing local and federal funds and that it would be "something we can fully implement without additional requests on the budget."
When asked about efforts among Republican state legislators to change the current Dominion voting system that became a significant target of former President Donald Trump's ire and various conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election, Raffensperger said he did not see a reason to replace it.