A majority of voters in Georgia either did not check or only briefly glanced at paper ballots after they chose who to vote for during the 2020 election, according to a recently released study.
A fifth of voters observed at the voting booth did not check the ballots at all, while 31.3 percent of others only gave the paper a brief glance.
The rest either looked at the ballots for a short time or a long time, according to the study (pdf).
Under the election system produced by Dominion Voting Systems used in Georgia for the first time statewide in 2020, voters log their choices on electronic machines. When they finish picking who they’re voting for, a printer attached to the machine prints out a paper ballot.
People take the ballots and insert them into a ballot tabulator.
Before doing so, voters can check the ballot for accuracy. If there’s something amiss, they can spoil their ballot and vote again.
Researchers with the University of Georgia’s School of Public & International Affairs sought to see how many voters would check their ballots during the presidential election and paid undergraduate and graduate students from the school to serve as field observers at various precincts to observe firsthand.
Students noted whether voters did not check the ballot at all, whether they briefly glanced at it (less than one second), whether they spent a short time reviewing it (one to five seconds), or whether they reviewed it for a long time (more than five seconds).
The results, showing most voters either did not check their ballot or only undertook a cursory examination, which was deemed insufficient, indicates “room for improvement,” M.V. Hood III, a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Georgia who helped run the study, told The Epoch Times.
Ways to improve the rate at which voters check the paper ballots include training poll workers to remind them verbally to do so and having the workers hand out reminders.
BYÂ ZACHARY STIEBER
