Georgia’s SB214 Election Security Revolution: Paper Ballots, VoterGA

Unpack Georgia’s SB214, the elec­tion secu­ri­ty bill cham­pi­oned by Gar­land Favorito and Voter­GA, push­ing for hand-count­ed paper bal­lots and empow­er­ing the State Elec­tion Board (SEB). This episode high­lights years of grass­roots efforts by Voter­GA and Paper Bal­lots Please advo­cates, nav­i­gat­ing leg­isla­tive hur­dles like SB189’s QR code fight. Despite SB214 pass­ing com­mit­tee, its jour­ney stalls as Raf­fensperg­er resists scan­ner upgrades and Sine Die looms—likely doom­ing it until next year. Domin­ion vot­ing machines loom over 2026, fuel­ing skep­ti­cism.

We dive into the bill’s bold moves: man­dat­ing hand counts, boost­ing SEB author­i­ty, and exit­ing ERIC. Mean­while, HB441’s abor­tion ban with homi­cide charges, Uber’s lia­bil­i­ty relief, and Fani Willis dodg­ing a Sen­ate pan­el stir the pot. A veto call for SB144 emerges as MAGA mar­vels at Bri­an Kemp’s shift. Reflect­ing on Lucy McBath’s upset win over Karen Han­del, Georgia’s vot­er base sig­nals unpre­dictabil­i­ty. 

• GA Elec­tion bill SB214, paper bal­lots and elec­tion secu­ri­ty bill. Most of the cred­it for the leg­is­la­tion goes to Gar­land Favorito. The day in and day out for years has been Voter­GA and their sup­port­ing cast. There are peo­ple all over work­ing on elec­tion secu­ri­ty and wear­ing 2 shirts, one being Voter­GA and the oth­er Paper Bal­lots Please. SB189 the QR codes, a lot of work was done, you have to have peo­ple that will work on leg­is­la­tion. This is sup­posed to start next year and now Raf­fensperg­er is com­ing up with the excuse that why would he spend the mon­ey to update the scan­ners if the con­tract is almost up. 
• The com­mit­tee vot­ed SB214 out of com­mit­tee. Now they have to read the bill, go to the rules com­mit­tee and vote on. Then it has to go to the House and go to their com­mit­tee, if it pass­es out of the house com­mit­tee, and then their rules com­mit­tee and vote on. But if the house makes a change it has to go back to the Sen­ate. Next Fri­day is Sine Die. The bill will prob­a­bly die in the house. They can pick it up in the next ses­sion, next year. 
• You will vote on domin­ion vot­ing machines in 2026. It is all a cha­rade. 
• GA bill gives pow­er to the State Elec­tion Board and enacts its rules. GA repub­li­can state leg­is­la­tors unveiled an elec­tion over­haul bill that would empow­er the SEB after its con­ser­v­a­tive major­i­ty tried and failed to change sev­er­al rules weeks before elec­tion last year. The bill would man­date a hand bal­lot count, give the board author­i­ty over vot­er eli­gi­bil­i­ty and with­draw from a mul­ti­state vot­er accu­ra­cy orga­ni­za­tion, ERIC. It will remove us from ERIC. 
• HB441 will do away with all abor­tion in GA and to charge women with homi­cide that get one. 
• Uber is get­ting some help on their insur­ance pre­mi­ums. The Sen­ate trans­porta­tion com­mit­tee advances a bill that will exempt ride-shar­ing com­pa­nies from cer­tain lia­bil­i­ty law­suits. 
• Ques­tions swirl over whether Fani Willis will tes­ti­fy before the GA sen­ate pan­el. They are strolling in LAX not car­ing about the pan­el. 
• Don’t for­get we need to call for veto of SB144
• All of Amer­i­ca can­not believe how MAGA Bri­an Kemp is going right now. 
• When Lucy McBath ran for the first time for con­gress in the sixth dis­trict against Karen Han­del. It was sup­posed to be a walk in the park for Karen and Lucy McBath won. The vot­er base mir­rored GA vot­er base today.