ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has quietly signed a wide-ranging elections bill authorizing the purchase of new touchscreen voting machines that print a paper ballot.
The bill was signed behind closed doors on Tuesday, the final hectic day of Georgia's 2019 legislative session.
It's a major step toward replacing the state's current outdate voting machines, which offer no auditable paper trail. But some say it's a major step in the wrong direction.
Critics, including several leading cyber security experts, say the new electronic ballot markers are hackable and less secure than hand-marked paper ballots.
The proposal comes months after Kemp, then the state's chief election officer, defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in the governor's race, and amid several lawsuits challenging the state's election handling.
Kemp spokesman Cody Hall declined to comment.
