{"id":2322010,"date":"2024-08-09T14:39:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T18:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/first-responders-help-ga-county-secure-ballots-chain-of-custody\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T14:46:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T18:46:08","slug":"first-responders-help-ga-county-secure-ballots-chain-of-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/first-responders-help-ga-county-secure-ballots-chain-of-custody\/","title":{"rendered":"First Responders Help GA County Secure Ballots&#8217; Chain Of Custody"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Ffirst-responders-help-ga-county-secure-ballots-chain-of-custody%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=2322010&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>DeKalb County, Georgia, is taking measures to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-denounces-pennsylvania-automatic-voter-registration-implementation\/\" title=\"Trump criticizes Pennsylvania&#039;s automatic voter registration implementation.\">enhance election\u200d security<\/a> by involving first responders in the transportation of ballots on Election Day. This initiative comes in\u200d response \u2063to heightened distrust among both\u200b Republicans and Democrats regarding the security of\u2062 the electoral process, \u200bstemming\u200d from concerns\u2063 raised after the 2020 election. The county, which has a significant population and supported President Joe Biden in the last election, is implementing a new system to secure the chain of custody\u200b for votes.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, poll managers\u2063 and deputies transported SD cards containing vote data separately, raising questions about the security of the\u200d process. Following feedback from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-china-threat-is-real-and-upon-us\/\" title=\"The China Threat is Real and Upon Us\">local party officials<\/a> \u200bregarding potential vulnerabilities, DeKalb County has now employed police officers, firefighters, and other first responders to securely transport these critical cards \u200dto the elections office. \u2064According to\u2063 Marci McCarthy, Chairwoman\u2062 of the DeKalb County Republican Party, this new approach includes placing the SD cards\u2064 in tamper-proof \u2063banker\u2064 bags, which are \u2064then transported in a secure pelican case. This effort is part of an overarching goal\u200b to restore confidence in the electoral process \u200dby \u200densuring that ballot collection and transportation \u2063are conducted\u2064 with more oversight and security.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>DeKalb County, Georgia, has enlisted the help of first responders to secure the chain of custody of ballots on Election Day after deep &ldquo;mistrust&rdquo; from both Republicans and Democrats about election security arose following the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p>DeKalb, which voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dekalbcountyga.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/users\/user304\/ElectionSummaryReportRPT-3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">191<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/breaking-real-clear-politics-say-they-never-called-pennsylvania\/\" title=\"BREAKING: Real Clear Politics -- SAY THEY NEVER CALLED PENNSYLVANIA\">election night<\/a> precincts and is the fourth-largest county by population in the Peach State.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, &ldquo;after closing out the precinct, a poll manager and deputy poll manager would drive with SD cards containing the votes to the DeKalb County voter registration and elections office, which is headquarters, where votes would be tabulated,&rdquo; Chairwoman of the DeKalb County Republican Party Marci McCarthy explained to The Federalist. &ldquo;The SD cards and other election materials were then checked in, processed and uploaded at headquarters. There used to be about 10 different check in stations filling the hallway.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But the system was vulnerable to potential ballot chain-of-custody issues, McCarthy said. At the time, she questioned why the deputy poll managers and managers were &ldquo;separated in two vehicles&rdquo; and &ldquo;Who is carrying the memory cards and critical information, the votes, if they&rsquo;re in two different vehicles?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The program enlists the help of police officers, firefighters, clerks, and other first responders to help securely transport SD cards to the DeKalb County voter registration and elections office. A DeKalb County document reviewed by The Federalist confirmed the program&rsquo;s implementation.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Now, the deputized election night runners come into DeKalb County voter registration and elections office to bring in the SD cards in parallel with the poll workers closing out the precinct,&rdquo; McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<p>To ensure the SD cards are not tampered with, the cards are placed inside banker bags prior to leaving the polling location, according to McCarthy. These bags are then placed inside a pelican case that is secured via a combination lock. First responders are not given the lock code, McCarthy said.<\/p>\n<p>The &ldquo;election night runners&rdquo; then transport the SD card to headquarters, where they are checked in to ensure the SD card matches the correct serial numbers. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After the check-in procedure, if everything matches, [the director or deputy director] takes the SD card, which is placed in a clear container, along with the first responder, to a tabulation room that is a complete storefront, everyone can see what&rsquo;s happening,&rdquo; McCarthy said. &ldquo;The SD card and its data is then uploaded into the state&rsquo;s system for tabulation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The process was introduced following what McCarthy described as mutual &ldquo;distrust&rdquo; from both Democrats and Republicans about election security.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We may not have the same ideology and political beliefs but we all want to work together to have meaningful elections that can be trusted with the outcomes,&rdquo; McCarthy said. <\/p>\n<p>DeKalb County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Brandi Wyche said the program makes &ldquo;election night more efficient&rdquo; in a statement to The Federalist. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been able to see the election night runners in action for both the primary and run-off elections so far this year. DeKalb is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/jill-biden-campaigns-with-harris-county-judge-who-will-likely-face-federal-indictment\/\" title=\"Jill Biden Campaigns With Harris County Judge Who Will Likely Face Federal Indictment\">large county<\/a> and the runner initiative has reduced the time it takes for the results from in-person voting to be returned to the office. We&rsquo;re happy to see the DeKalb Office of Voter Registration and Elections implement programs that make election night more efficient,&rdquo; Wyche said.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DeKalb County, Georgia, has recruited first responders to help maintain the chain of custody for ballots on Election Day due to significant &#8220;mistrust&#8221; regarding election security from both Republicans and Democrats following the 2020 election. DeKalb, which supported President Joe Biden in 2020, has 191 precincts for election night and ranks as the fourth-largest county by population in Georgia. <\/p>\n<p>Previously, after closing a precinct, a poll manager and deputy poll manager would transport SD cards containing votes to the DeKalb County voter registration and elections office for tabulation. Marci McCarthy, Chairwoman of the DeKalb County Republican Party, noted that this process raised concerns about potential vulnerabilities in ballot custody since they traveled in separate vehicles. She questioned who was responsible for carrying critical information if they were not together.<\/p>\n<p>To address these issues, police officers, firefighters, clerks, and other first responders are now involved in securely transporting SD cards to the elections office. A document from DeKalb County confirmed this new program&#8217;s implementation. According to McCarthy, these designated &#8220;election night runners&#8221; now bring SD cards directly into the elections office while poll workers finalize their precincts.<\/p>\n<p>To prevent tampering with SD cards during transport from polling locations, they are placed inside banker bags before leaving and then secured within a pelican case that uses a combination lock\u2014first responders do not have access to this code. Once at headquarters, each card is checked against its serial number before being taken by an official into a transparent tabulation room where everyone can observe the process as data is uploaded into the state\u2019s system.<\/p>\n<p>This new procedure was established due to mutual &#8220;distrust&#8221; among both political parties regarding election security. McCarthy emphasized that despite differing ideologies and beliefs, there is a shared goal of ensuring trustworthy electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>Brandi Wyche, Chairwoman of the DeKalb County Democratic Committee praised this initiative for making &#8220;election night more efficient.&#8221; She noted that having seen it implemented during both primary and runoff elections earlier this year has significantly reduced wait times for results from in-person voting being reported back to headquarters.<\/p>\n<p>Brianna Lyman serves as an elections correspondent at The Federalist with a degree in International Political Economy from Fordham University; her work has appeared on various news platforms including Newsmax and Fox News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2322011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Deputized-election-inight-runners-scaled-e1722514937288.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[37614,37699,32644,37698,37700],"class_list":["post-2322010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-ballot-security","tag-chain-of-custody","tag-election-integrity","tag-first-responders","tag-georgia-county"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Deputized-election-inight-runners-scaled-e1722514937288.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322010","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\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2322010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2322010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2322011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2322010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2322010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2322010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}