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Case study: Georgia 2020

In July 2019, after legal challenges and concerns about the security and reliability of its aging electronic voting machines, Georgia officials approved a $107 million contract with Dominion Voting Systems to equip all 159 Georgia counties with new ballot-marking devices that provided a paper ballot for every vote cast (VVPAT). The upgrade was completed in time for the 2020 Georgia Republican and Democratic presidential primaries.

The system proved critical during the general election in November 2020. A razor-thin margin of victory for Joe Biden (0.23 percent and 11,779 votes)—the first by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state since 1992—automatically triggered a statewide audit, made possible by the new auditable paper ballot system. The audit found several human errors at the county level, netting Trump 1,274 votes. At the Trump campaign's request, this was followed by a full statewide hand recount of the paper ballots, which confirmed the result.

As recently as the 2016 election, the lack of a system producing auditable paper ballots would have made a recount impossible. But the VVPAT system allowed officials to cross-check electronic results with paper records, ensuring the accuracy of the vote count.

Here are the key aspects of how the VVPAT system was critical:

1. Hand Recount: Georgia’s VVPAT system allowed for a statewide hand recount of the paper ballots generated by the machines, which confirmed the accuracy of the original electronic count. This was essential in validating the election outcome and addressing claims of irregularities
2. Audits for Transparency: The VVPAT-enabled audits provided transparency and accountability. By comparing the paper ballots to the electronic records, the audit reassured the public that the vote tally reflected the true voter intent

1. Addressing Misinformation: Amid claims of widespread election fraud, Georgia's VVPAT system was a central tool in debunking these allegations, as the paper audit trail provided verifiable evidence that the electronic results were accurate

Georgia’s implementation of the VVPAT system helped maintain election integrity, increased voter confidence, and provided a reliable method to verify the results during the intense scrutiny of the 2020 election.