Georgia Republican Party

Georgia's state election board on Thursday did not vote on a GOP-backed proposal to address a software flaw in the state's voting equipment that could allow voters to be matched to their cast ballots. Two Republican board members criticized the plan, which was submitted by the Georgia Republican Party and the RNC and would have required county officials to collect and shuffle ballots at polling sites before casting. Critics warned the change could burden poll workers, risk ballots going uncounted, and arrive too close to the Oct. 13 start of early voting.

The underlying flaw, discovered by researchers in 2022, does not allow vote tampering but could expose how individuals voted, raising ballot-secrecy and coercion concerns. Republican board members separately urged the secretary of state to update voting software with help from the Trump administration, a move the board's lone Democrat opposed as too close to the midterms. Georgia remains a key presidential battleground with a closely watched Senate race.