VRM in the States: Georgia

Voter Registration in a Digital Age: Georgia

An appendix from Voter Registration in a Digital Age

• Background
  Until recently Georgia’s Department of Driver Services (DDS) used a partially automated system of voter registration, transmitting data to election officials electronically while also collecting and mailing paper forms. In December 2009 this process became completely electronic: all required input, including digitized signatures, is now sent electronically from DDS offices to election officials. The Secretary of State's office developed this upgraded process in-house, without any separate appropriations.
• Outcomes
  State Director of Elections Wesley Tailor reports that, beyond savings at the county level, full automation has relieved state officials of printing, sorting, and mailing expenses; formerly they served as intermediaries in directing forms from DDS offices to the appropriate county election officials, a process that could take up to ten days in its entirety.