As Georgia prosecutors announced the indictment of former President Trump and 18 others for their efforts to overturn the 2020 election, much attention has been paid to the infamous phone call in which Trump told Georgia’s chief election official that he wanted “to find 11,780 votes.” But this phone call was only one part of a broad campaign to pressure Georgia’s public officials to cast doubt on the election results or even disregard the will of the voters. And the effort did not stop on January 6 — the lies spread and the futile pursuit to build support for those lies created lasting consequences for elections, both in Georgia and across the country.
By the end of November 2020, most states, including Georgia, had not only finished counting all ballots, but also conducted recounts and post-election audits that confirmed the presidential election outcome every time. In Georgia, counties first counted all ballots using electronic tabulators, then counted all ballots by hand, and then
This is probably the most dangerous of the Trump indictments, as it relies upon State and locally generated charges, insulated from the Federal Judiciary process. The fact that there were attempts to access voting systems should disturb all citizens and that there was limited success should be of even more concern. It is sad that this is an internal domestic process, but points to a wider vulnerability. As the articles states: “Seeking accountability is necessary but not sufficient to repair a democratic system that has been badly damaged by the election denial movement that continues across the country. Ahead of 2024, leaders at all levels of government must not only stand up for the integrity of our election system, but also invest in safeguards.” Part of these safeguards should include encrypted election machinery, isolated from the internet, with real time printed paper verification so that voters can be assured that the vote they cast electronically was accurately tabulated by the machine. This will facilitate hand counted re-counts in case of dispute. Given these events I suspect, no paper trail will equal no trust.