In an almost unanimous decision, the Georgia House has passed a bill that may soon require watermarks to be present on state election ballots. According to a report by FOX 5 Atlanta, the legislation, known as House Bill 976, was approved with a vote of 167-1, indicating strong bipartisan support for an effort to further secure Georgia's voting system.
The newly passed bill aims to directly address ongoing concerns about ballot authenticity, a topic that has remained especially charged in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. "It will bring more confidence from our people who vote, and it’s something we need to restore," Rep. Steve Tarvin, a Chickamauga Republican, expressed in a statement obtained by AP News. The measure is part of a larger movement to quickly bolster voters' trust in the electoral process.
The push for watermarking comes despite existing security measures. Georgia ballots have been printed on special security paper, which requires a laser wand to confirm its authenticity, ever since a law passed in 2021. This response itself traces back to the heavily scrutinized 2020 presidential election outcomes in Georgia, with particular attention on Fulton County—a focal point for claims of forgery, despite investigators being unable to substantiate such allegations.
Backing this initiative, Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has thrown his support behind the watermarking mandate. The chief operating officer, Gabe Sterling, told a House committee the cost of implementing the watermarking machine would be around $100,000, which is not expected to notably increase the per-ballot cost—currently sitting at 13 cents—that counties incur. "This is a low-cost, high-value measure," House Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman John LaHood, a Valdosta Republican, argued in further defense of the bill.
The legislation's swift passage in the Georgia House propels it next to the Senate floor, where it will undergo further debate. If approved, the watermark requirement could be in effect by July 1, well ahead of the November elections. Until then, counties are permitted to use up their pre-existing ballot paper stocks for the upcoming March and May elections, as indicated by Sterling's remarks to lawmakers.
Apart from watermarking initiatives, the Georgia legislature is also deliberating other election-related measures, including the removal of barcodes from electronically produced ballots, as well as requiring two after-election audits of ballots to ensure alignment with machine counts. These steps form a concerted effort to enhance the transparency and credibility of Georgia's election infrastructure as the state continues to navigate through the politically charged atmosphere surrounding its voting processes.
