{"id":1127055,"date":"2021-12-17T00:43:57","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T05:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1127055"},"modified":"2021-12-17T00:44:01","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T05:44:01","slug":"heritage-foundation-analysis-ranks-georgia-no-1-in-election-integrity-after-overhaul-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/heritage-foundation-analysis-ranks-georgia-no-1-in-election-integrity-after-overhaul-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage Foundation Analysis Ranks Georgia No. 1 in Election Integrity After Overhaul Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fheritage-foundation-analysis-ranks-georgia-no-1-in-election-integrity-after-overhaul-bill%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1127055&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Georgia has the most secure election practices of any state following its passage of a sweeping election integrity bill, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/electionscorecard\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">scorecard<\/a> published Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n<p>The influential conservative think tank weighed&nbsp;a dozen factors it considered \u201cessential\u201d to election integrity to compile the scores, and coming in in the top five were all southern states with Republican-controlled state legislatures and Republican governors.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Those five states were (scores out of 100):<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Georgia \u2014 83<\/li>\n<li>Alabama \u2014 82<\/li>\n<li>Tennessee \u2014 79<\/li>\n<li>Arkansas (tie) \u2014 78<\/li>\n<li>Florida (tie) \u2014 78<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The bottom five states, all deeply blue states with the exception of Nevada, were:<\/p>\n<ol start=\"46\">\n<li>Vermont \u2014 39<\/li>\n<li>Oregon \u2014 38<\/li>\n<li>California \u2014 30<\/li>\n<li>Nevada \u2014 28<\/li>\n<li>Hawaii \u2014 26<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Georgia\u2019s ranking comes after the state has been at the center of the national debate over election laws and concerns with voter fraud stemming from the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Georgia was a key battleground in 2020 where Democrats achieved stunning victories on razor-thin margins in the presidential race and in the subsequent dual Senate runoff races, which were to determine which party would have control of the upper chamber in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>The state had been one of many to modify its voting procedures before the elections to both accommodate concerns about surging cases of coronavirus and to appease lawsuit-happy Democrats who seized on the virus as a means to pursue their&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wabe.org\/house-passes-bill-to-restore-key-parts-of-voting-rights-act\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pre-pandemic goal<\/a> of loosening voting restrictions and inserting the federal government into states\u2019 election processes.<\/p>\n<p>In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) in conjunction with the State Election Board implemented a series of changes to the voting process ahead of the primaries and general election, which resulted in an unprecedented influx of absentee ballots. Those changes on the backdrop of a broader Democrat push to expand voting access by loosening regulations drove initial Republican concerns of the potential for widespread fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The concerns in the Peach State deepened following the Democrat wins and former President Donald Trump \u2014 who had come up about 12,000 votes shy of President Joe Biden in his race after two recounts and amid dozens of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/politics\/election\/georgia-investigates-voter-registration-groups\/YHEWSZLOYNEWZPYSHWAPJQFNFQ\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">investigations<\/a> into voting irregularities \u2014 repeatedly denouncing the election as \u201crigged.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19153170\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"35\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1229718809.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19153170\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1229718809.jpg\" alt=\"ATLANTA, GA - NOVEMBER 21: Protesters rally outside the Georgia State Capitol during a &#039;March for Trump&#039; protest against the results of the 2020 Presidential election on November 21, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. This week Georgia finished their hand recount of the ballots which also confirmed President-Elect Joe Biden&#039;s win in the state. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters rally outside the Georgia State Capitol during a \u201cMarch for Trump\u201d protest against the results of the 2020 presidential election on November 21, 2020 in Atlanta (Elijah Nouvelage\/Getty Images).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Trump ultimately pointed to Gov. Brian Kemp (R) as blameworthy for the Republican losses because he deemed Kemp complacent and wanted the governor to call a special session for the state legislature to select its own separate set of electoral college electors, a request Kemp declined because he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.11alive.com\/article\/news\/politics\/elections\/kemp-duncan-statement-special-session-calls\/85-ebb26992-e681-4ccf-92bf-556c85b4f5d7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a>&nbsp;it would be unconstitutional and \u201cimmediately enjoined by the courts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kemp still however publicly expressed shared frustration with Trump over the 2020 election process and answered the concerns of fraud by signing an omnibus election integrity bill into law in March, which tightened voter ID requirements, regulated the number of ballot drop boxes, eliminated the 2020 practice of mailing unsolicited absentee ballot applications to registered voters, and more.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<div id=\"attachment_17657850\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1232223914.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-17657850\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1232223914.jpg\" alt=\"MARIETTA, GA - APRIL 10: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a news conference about the state&#039;s new Election Integrity Law that passed this week at AJ\u2019s Famous Seafood and Poboys on April 10, 2021 in Marietta, Georgia. Major League Baseball announced it would move the All-Star Game out of Georgia in response to the election bill, which opponents claim will negatively affect the minority population&#039;s ability to vote. There is also a concern for the economic impact this will have on the state following the MLB&#039;s decision. The bill&#039;s passage follows the Governor&#039;s decision to lift many of the restrictions in place for protection from COVID-19. (Photo by Megan Varner\/Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a news conference about the state\u2019s new Election Integrity Act that passed this week at AJ\u2019s Famous Seafood and Poboys on April 10, 2021, in Marietta, Georgia. (Megan Varner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The bill was widely praised by Republicans as a productive step toward addressing voter fraud concerns but denounced by Democrats and some corporations, who claimed concerns of fraud were unfounded and that the bill amounted to voter suppression of racial minorities.<\/p>\n<p>The Heritage Foundation\u2019s sister organization, Heritage Action, which was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/03\/25\/heritage-action-georgia-election-integrity-law-model-rest-country\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">invested<\/a> in seeing the bill through the legislative process, praised it in March as a means to \u201cprotect Georgia\u2019s votes and make the state a model for the rest of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>In the foundation\u2019s latest election integrity initiative \u2014 the release of the scorecard \u2014 the think tank said it consulted election law experts in every state and calculated states\u2019 election integrity score by assigning points for the following 12 areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Voter ID implementation<\/li>\n<li>Accuracy of voter registration lists<\/li>\n<li>Absentee ballot management<\/li>\n<li>Vote harvesting\/trafficking restrictions<\/li>\n<li>Access of election observers<\/li>\n<li>Verification of citizenship<\/li>\n<li>Identification for voter assistance<\/li>\n<li>Vote counting practices<\/li>\n<li>Election litigation procedures<\/li>\n<li>Restriction of same-day registration<\/li>\n<li>Restriction of automatic registration<\/li>\n<li>Restriction of private funding of elections<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Heritage Action executive director Jessica Anderson described the scorecard as a \u201croadmap\u201d for the group\u2019s \u201ctwo million grassroots activists\u201d as they pursue election reforms across the country in the leadup to the 2022 midterms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur activists will be able to use the roadmap to election integrity to go back to their legislators and advocate for further election integrity reforms, pointing out where their state has succeeded and where there is room to improve,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThe scorecard represents the single best resource for Americans in all 50 states to understand election integrity laws and advocate to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat in their state.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_19153138\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1235842966.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19153138\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1235842966.jpg\" alt=\"Protesters call for a &quot;forensic audit&quot; of the 2020 presidential election, during a demonstration by a group called Election Integrity Fund and Force outside of the Michigan State Capitol , in Lansing, on October 12, 2021. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY \/ AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters call for a \u201cforensic audit\u201d of the 2020 presidential election during a demonstration by a group called Election Integrity Fund and Force in Lansing, Michigan, on October 12, 2021 (JEFF KOWALSKY\/AFP via Getty Images).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>As for Georgia\u2019s ranking on the scorecard, Kemp responded to his state\u2019s achievement with a statement of his own, saying, \u201cAs Secretary of State for nine years and now as Governor, I am proud to lead the fight to ensure Georgia\u2019s elections are secure, accessible, and fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kemp also took a jab at those who had publicly rejected his overhaul bill, the most prominent of such rejecters being Major League Baseball (MLB), which pulled its All-Star Game from Atlanta this year to protest the election bill. MLB\u2019s decision backfired after it deprived the state of tens of millions of dollars in anticipated revenue as the game&nbsp;<a title=\"This external link will open in a new window\" href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/sports\/2021\/07\/15\/woke-broke-mlb-all-star-game-earns-second-lowest-ratings-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">saw<\/a>&nbsp;its second-lowest ratings on record.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile woke activists and far-left liberals tried to cancel our state for standing up for common-sense measures like ID requirements for absentee ballots and secure drop boxes, Georgia Republicans stood strong for election integrity and this ranking shows it,\u201d Kemp stated.<\/p>\n<p>Kemp\u2019s efforts, however, have not satisfied Trump, who has maintained his stance on Kemp since the election, continuously deriding the governor as a \u201cRINO\u201d and \u201cweak\u201d and primarily responsible for the 2020 Republican defeats.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_15176492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" readability=\"37\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1229967788.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-15176492\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/GettyImages-1229967788.jpg\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at a rally to support Republican Senate candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia on December 5, 2020. - President Donald Trump ventures out of Washington on Saturday for his first political appearance since his election defeat to Joe Biden, campaigning in Georgia where two run-off races will decide the fate of the US Senate. (Photo by Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS \/ AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks at a rally for Republican Senate runoff candidates at Valdosta Regional Airport in Valdosta, Georgia, on December 5, 2020 (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS\/AFP via Getty Images).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Kemp is now facing a gubernatorial primary challenge from former Sen. David Perdue (R-GA), one of the two Republicans who lost in the runoffs and who has since fallen in line with Trump\u2019s position on the election. Perdue, who quickly garnered Trump\u2019s endorsement upon announcing his campaign last week, told <em>Breitbart News Saturday<\/em> this past weekend that he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2021\/12\/12\/exclusive-perdue-stacey-abrams-wants-give-illegal-aliens-right-vote-democrats-would-control-georgia-forever\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decided<\/a> to run for governor \u201cagainst an incumbent Republican governor who I think gave away the election process to Stacey Abrams in 2020 and has lost confidence of our party.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perdue pointed to Abrams, the Democrat activist who narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018 and who is now running for governor again, as his motivation to step into the race as Abrams has become a formidable public figure with proven fundraising abilities. Perdue said of Kemp, \u201cI just don\u2019t see any way that he can beat Stacey Abrams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Write to Ashley Oliver at <a href=\"mailto:aoliver@breitbart.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">aoliver@breitbart.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter at <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/asholiver\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@asholiver<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Georgia has the most secure election practices of any state following its passage of a sweeping election integrity bill, according to a scorecard published Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation. The &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1127055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1127055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1127055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1127055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1127055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1127055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}