Georgia judge rejects lawsuit from GOP officials raising concerns about voting machines

A judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by Republican Party officials in Georgia that sought to cast doubt on the security of voting machines that will be used across the state in the upcoming 2024 election.

Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee noted in his ruling issued Friday that the equipment remains certified and the consequences of potential security risks “are – at this point – purely hypothetical.”

The failed lawsuit, filed by GOP officials in Dekalb County and a familiar cast of pro-Trump lawyers just weeks before early voting begins in Georgia, argued the Dominion voting machines are not in compliance with Georgia law. The officials wanted the secretary of state’s office to make voting records and ballot images available for public inspection within 24 hours of the election.

But McAfee said the relief sought by GOP officials would not have addressed any vulnerabilities and that the matter should be decided by policymakers, not courts.

State officials including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, insist the voting equipment is secure and there has been no proof of widespread fraud. Officials said the lawsuit was an attempt to mislead voters and lay the groundwork to once again question the 2024 election results if Donald Trump loses.

Republicans have continued to claim without proof that Dominion voting systems were exploited in previous elections, resulting in mass manipulation and vote-flipping by a nefarious actor.

Proving that existing vulnerabilities, some of which have been acknowledged by federal election officials, have been exploited is a critical distinction separating reality from the speculation at the heart of the complaint.

During the hearing earlier this week, Harry MacDougald — a pro-Trump attorney for DeKalb County GOP — called multiple witnesses, none of whom were able to provide specific evidence that vulnerabilities in the Dominion voting systems in Georgia were exploited in previous elections. MacDougald also represents former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who still faces criminal charges in Georgia for his alleged role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. (Clark has pleaded not guilty and was not involved in the new lawsuit.)

One witness who testified this week alleged there were “hundreds of vulnerabilities” to the Dominion voting systems but conceded that none were specific to Georgia.

Georgia election officials have maintained the state’s voting systems are secure, in part, because of the layers of protection that exist to monitor for any irregularities.

The fact that Georgia has not yet implemented a widely recommended security update for its Dominion systems has led to continued questions about whether more needs to be done to ensure the accuracy of November’s vote count.

While Georgia election officials say they won’t be able to update the state’s voting systems until after the 2024 election, they also insist it is highly unlikely that any vulnerabilities will be exploited in real attacks.

Those officials also say they have already carried out a number of security recommendations without having to update the system’s software.