State unveils new voter information system

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger

ATLANTA — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger launched a new computer system the past week designed to improve the tracking of registered voters.

The $4 million Georgia Registered Voter Information System (GARViS) will contain more than 12 million voter records, including more than 7 million active voters.

“GARViS is a tremendous step forward in the security and accuracy of Georgia’s voter registration system,” Raffensperger said. “This voter registration system truly reinforces Georgia’s status as the No. 1 state in America for election administration.”

The integrity of Georgia’s voting process came under fire after Democrat Joe Biden carried the Peach State over incumbent President Donald Trump in 2020. But a series of audits and hand counts after the election — including a forensic audit of the Dominion Voting Systems machines the state used — found the results were accurate.

“When people ask us, ‘How do we know who voted? How do we know it’s real? How do we know it’s fair? Because we have the receipts we keep on this secure system,” said Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office. “Don’t let anybody believe there are dead voters voting or double voting in any significant way because it’s just not true.”

Raffensperger’s office and two private partners — California-based software company Salesforce and Texas-based technology consulting firm MTX Group — spent more than 150,000 hours developing and testing the new system, as well as training employees how to use it. GARViS will replace the agency’s ENet system.

The new system also is expected to shorten wait times at the polls. Early voting in 2020 saw voters in some cases waiting for hours to cast their ballots.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat.