The Federal Bureau of Investigation seized more than 650 boxes of Fulton County ballots and other 2020 election materials on Jan. 28. Following claims of machine-related election fraud, many have advocated for the sole use of physical ballots.
Kelvin King is a Republican candidate for secretary of state. His wife, Janelle King, is a member of the Georgia State Election Board. He believes this continued investigation of the 2020 election goes against what local officials have said.
“The execution of the FBI search warrant has me intrigued because for so many years we heard from our [Secretary of State] office that our elections in Georgia were without serious issues,” King said. “This move by the FBI appears to be counter to what the [Secretary of State] and Fulton [County] have been telling us.”
Opponents in Fulton County have accused the FBI of a “flagrant constitutional violation” and mischaracterizing the conclusions of previous investigations in its application for a search warrant.
The State Election Board subpoenaed Georgia’s top election official, Republican Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brad Raffensperger, in February. Raffensperger said the investigation is “baseless and repackaged.”
“The 2020 election has been investigated and audited multiple times, and no fraud has been found,” Raffensperger said. “As secretary of state, I’ve made Georgia the safest and most secure place to vote.”
Midtown Advanced Placement United States History teacher and Midtown Votes sponsor Jason Slaven explained the current voting system in light of the proposed switch to physical ballots.
“Georgia already uses paper ballots through a hybrid system,” Slaven said. “When voters have their IDs scanned at the poll, they are given access to a digital version of the ballot where the voter makes their selections. When they are finished, the machine prints out a paper ballot with the voter’s choices, and the voter is prompted to double-check their ballot for any mistakes. At that point, the voter inserts their paper ballot into the tabulation machine. Every county in Georgia is required to retain the physical ballots, and those paper ballots can be recounted by hand or by machine.”
Some have expressed concern over the voter data on seized ballots. Slaven explained that this is not a prominent issue.
“The physical ballots in every Georgia county were recounted both by hand and by machine at separate times after the 2020 election to verify the integrity of the election,” Slaven said. “Those physical ballots do not have any identifying information about the voter because of reforms around the turn of the century that were meant to prevent voter abuse and intimidation and in order to combat political corruption.”
Following the 2020 election, Trump told Raffensperger, “I just want to find 11,780 votes.” Raffensperger replied that Georgia’s results were accurate.
“I will always follow the law and follow the Constitution, no matter who tries to compel me to do otherwise,” Raffensperger said. “Hardworking Georgians deserve nothing less.”
Raffensperger noted possible concerns over the implementation of a new voting system.
“Any change to how we conduct elections must be made thoughtfully, providing adequate time and funding for counties to transition smoothly,” Raffensperger said. “Proposals to completely overhaul Georgia’s election system for the 2026 midterms would severely impact counties’ ability to run the election.”
King believes there are ways to help this new system run smoothly.
“The solution is to implement standard operating procedures and processes of handling paper ballots in order to maintain security and chain-of-custody as is done in other states,” King said. “The [Secretary of State] must implement a statewide training program to ensure compliance with these uniform procedures. Furthermore, the SOS must implement resulting penalties and reprimands if not followed. Choosing to not follow these procedures will be a violation of election rules.”
King explained the paper ballot system.
“Ballots will be printed on specialized security paper,” King said. “Each county will receive the proper amount of ballots for every ‘registered’ voter. Additional action must be taken to ensure clean and accurate voter rolls as well. This will prevent there being any outstanding ballots floating around that are unaccounted for. Every voter must check in at the poll pad, and the number of check-ins should match the number of ballots cast at the end of the day. As always, training of election staff on these new procedures will be required.”
Raffensperger suggested that focusing on the 2020 election could cost Republicans the midterms.
“If Republicans fail to focus on the issues that matter most to hardworking Georgians, we will pay the price at the ballot box,” Raffensperger said. “Distraction – like dwelling on the 2020 election – is not a winning strategy. And when we lose sight of voters’ real concerns, we risk undermining the progress achieved under Republican leadership at both the state and national levels.”
King believes he would take a different approach as secretary of state.
“I would investigate every case of election irregularities instead of sitting on cases for years like the office currently operates,” King said.
Raffensperger maintains confidence in Georgia’s current system.
“Georgia is the safest and best place to vote in America,” Raffensperger said. “Anyone who attempts to undermine confidence in our elections is also undermining confidence in the democratic process.”
