By: Sen. Tonya Anderson (D – Lithonia)
This week in the Senate, we passed six bills on the floor and heard many in our committees. As we’ve passed our Crossover Day deadline, we’re hearing mostly House legislation, some of which are controversial measures that you have likely heard about in the news. This week, I’ll highlight two of those bills and tell you why I oppose them.
The first, House Bill 316, is a measure that will update our voting system and replace it with new voting machines that will work similarly to the last one as it uses a touch screen to make your selections. However, this new machine will print out a paper “receipt” so you can verify your votes. You would then scan a bar code to submit your vote. This is problematic for several reasons. These machines are not trustworthy with our most sensitive and confidential information as it is impossible to tell if the information is being compromised through hacking. We’ve heard from cyber security experts and constituents who encouraged us to oppose this legislation, and I did because I firmly believe that the right to vote, and to have your vote counted correctly, is essential to preserving democracy.
I know that many of my constituents are concerned with HB 316 as we have heard from experts that hand marked paper ballots are the only way to ensure that our votes won’t be compromised. There are several reasons for this. First, hand marked paper ballots are human-readable text and give you the option to hold your ballot and see, all in one place, who you are voting for instead of making a selection on a touch screen, which we know can accidentally choose the wrong candidate based on calibration errors. Second, there is no estimated cost associated with this new elections system as there is no fiscal note attached. While many in our chamber call themselves fiscal conservatives, I think it is dangerous to vote for something that has an unknown fiscal impact.
Simply put, people trust pencil to paper over a machine, and technology experts agree. I am here to serve you to the best of my ability, so I voted against HB 316 and hope that the Governor will consider hand marked paper ballots before signing this legislation.
Lastly, the Senate Science and Technology Committee heard House Bill 481 this week. This is known as the fetal heartbeat bill and would essentially ban abortions after 6 week, in most cases. We’ve heard from countless doctors, nurses, researchers and advocates on why this legislation is bad, but I think it comes down to one thing: choice. This limits a woman’s choice and puts them in danger. I will not support this legislation as it disproportionately hurts women from low income families and minorities.
Thank you again for the opportunity to serve you and let me know if you have any questions about upcoming legislation.
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Senator Tonya Anderson represents the 43rd Senate District, which includes portions of DeKalb, Newton and Rockdale counties. She may be reached by email at tonya.anderson@senate.ga.gov.