GOP-controlled Georgia election board asks DOJ to declare state’s voting machines illegal

Key Points:

• Georgia’s Republican-controlled State Election Board (SEB) Executive Director James Mills requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) to declare the state’s federally certified voting machines unlawful and to set a six-month deadline to phase them out before the midterm elections.
• The request targets Georgia’s electronic ballot-marking devices that encode votes in QR codes, which some experts recommend phasing out, though these machines remain certified by the bipartisan U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and are legally required for use in the state.
• The move is controversial within the SEB, with three Republican members supporting federal intervention to update the voting system, while the board chairman and others oppose federal involvement in state election administration.
• The DOJ lacks legal authority to unilaterally declare voting machines unlawful or seize election equipment, as election administration is constitutionally a state and local responsibility; nonetheless, this request follows ongoing pressure from former President Trump and election deniers targeting Georgia’s voting technology since 2020.
• Mills also copied the U.S. Attorney General and Homeland Security Secretary on his letter, continuing a broader effort by some Republicans to challenge the use of QR-code-based voting machines under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).