WASHINGTON — While at a Washington public policy event, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger detailed a push for national election reforms in the style of Georgia’s own.
The public policy think tank event Raffensperger attended was hosted by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative center-right organization.
At the event, Raffensperger said he wants other states to do what Georgia already does: verify voters are U.S. citizens and require a photo ID to vote, as well as ban ballot harvesting, provide quick and accurate election results verified by audits and have updated, clean voter lists.
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“I think voters deserve to participate in elections that are transparent, secured with integrity, but also finish up quickly, short lines,” Raffensperger said at the event.
Repeating some of his previous commentary, the Sec. of State said Georgia leads the nation when it comes to election management.
“Our elections are accurate, secure, free, fair and fast,” Raffensperger said at the think tank event. “We think that’s all come together, people just saw that nationwide.”
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His appearance at the American Enterprise Institute event follows a broader public push for national election reforms, with Raffensperger urging the incoming members of U.S. Congressional leadership to follow Georiga’s lead and change how elections operate across the United States.
“These common-sense measures have helped make Georgia a model of election integrity and accessibility for the nation,” Raffensperger said in a previous statement. “Implementing similar reforms at the federal level would strengthen public trust and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to free and fair elections.”
Along with the statement, Raffensperger laid out his policy reform ideas in detail as:
- Citizenship Verification: Georgia has developed a seamless way to verify citizenship by working closely with the Department of Driver Services. Federal legislation should expand the tools available to states to verify U.S. citizenship of all voters and require this to be done for voters in federal elections. While federal law mandates U.S. citizenship for federal elections, some municipalities have allowed non-citizens to vote in local elections. Raffensperger proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit non-citizen voting in all federal elections, reinforcing the principle that American elections are decided by American citizens.
- Photo ID: Citing Georgia’s success with photo ID requirements for all forms of voting, Raffensperger called for a similar standard in federal elections. He pointed to high voter turnout and widespread public support for such measures as evidence of their effectiveness.
- Ban Ballot Harvesting Nationwide: To safeguard against vote buying and inducement, Raffensperger proposed a nationwide ban on ballot harvesting, reinforcing the direct relationship between voters and the ballot box.
- Quick and Accurate Reporting of Results, Confirmed by Audits: All ballots should have to arrive by Election Day except for military and overseas voters, and results should be tabulated and reported quickly and accurately. Those results should then be audited to bolster confidence in election outcomes. Raffensperger calls for uniform, nationwide post-election audits. Such audits would establish minimum standards across states, ensuring consistency and public trust.
- Clean Voter Lists: Modernize the National Voter Registration Act to allow states to clean lists closer to elections as long as high-quality, accurate data is used.
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