Democratic Party of Georgia

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GA Democrats Become Only State Party in Nation to Hire Full-time Voter Protection Director

Democrats tap Sara Tindall Ghazal to head elections integrity program

Release:  Monday, February 19, 2018    

Atlanta, GA – Today, Democratic Party of Georgia Executive Director Rebecca DeHart announced the hire of Sara Tindall Ghazal to serve as the Party’s Voter Protection Director. With the hire of Ghazal, the DPG becomes the only state party in the nation to currently have a year-round full-time Director dedicated to protecting the integrity of a state elections system.

“With so much at stake in November, Georgia Democrats are expanding a permanent infrastructure to protect the integrity of each and every vote,” said DeHart in a statement. “Our state in particular knows the pain inflicted when Republican officials restrict or outright deny access to the polls. With the record of sloppiness and incompetency from our own Secretary of State to recent revelation of the indictment of 13 Russian individuals by the U.S. Department of Justice for elections interference, it is our obligation to protect the very fiber of our democracy at all costs. The DPG is truly fortunate to have the caliber of elections knowledge found in Sara.”

Sara Tindall Ghazal joins the DPG with more than a decade of experience in democratization and conflict resolution. An accomplished attorney, Sara brings a wealth of knowledge in protecting and expanding civil liberties—including monitoring elections in Jamaica, Liberia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and the Cherokee Nation.

“I look forward to working with state party officials and staff to defend the right to vote for every single Georgian—regardless of party affiliation,” said Ghazal. “With their support and that of our elected leaders, we will bring a new level of accountability in the elections process in every corner of this state, up and down the ballot.”

Elections in Georgia have come under an increasing scrutiny for mismanagement and voter suppression—damage inflicted disproportionately upon communities of color, students, and the elderly. Under the current Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, Georgians have had their personal information compromised, twice had their elections system breached, and saw the purge of tens of thousands of voters from the rolls.

More information on the state of elections in Georgia can be found here and here.

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GA Secretary of State Scandal Worsens: Elections Server WIPED

Server in question “crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials”

APNewsBreak: Georgia election server wiped after suit filed

AP — 10/26/2017

A computer server crucial to a lawsuit against Georgia election officials was quietly wiped clean by its custodians just after the suit was filed, The Associated Press has learned.

The server’s data was destroyed July 7 by technicians at the Center for Elections Systems at Kennesaw State University, which runs the state’s election system. The data wipe was revealed in an email — sent last week from an assistant state attorney general to plaintiffs in the case — that was obtained by the AP. More emails obtained in a public records request confirmed the wipe.

The lawsuit, filed by a diverse group of election reform advocates, aims to force Georgia to retire its antiquated and heavily criticized election technology. The server in question, which served as a statewide staging location for key election-related data, made national headlines in June after a security expert disclosed a gaping security hole that wasn’t fixed six months after he reported it to election authorities.

…The server data could have revealed whether Georgia’s most recent elections were compromised by malicious hackers. The plaintiffs contend that the results of both last November’s election and a special June 20 congressional runoff— won by Kemp’s predecessor, Karen Handel — cannot be trusted.

…Kemp and his GOP allies insist Georgia’s elections system is secure. But Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a plaintiff, believes the server data was erased precisely because the system isn’t secure.

“I don’t think you could find a voting systems expert who would think the deletion of the server data was anything less than insidious and highly suspicious,” she said.

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Previously: Timeline of Events Regarding KSU Breach

Brian Kemp’s Cheap Political Parlor Tricks

Atlanta, GA – Just days before National Voter Registration Day, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is once again abusing his office for political gain by pushing voter suppression efforts that disproportionately affect the elderly, communities of color, and low-income voters. Now mounting a bid for governor, Georgia’s Chief Election Officer has waged a war against ballot access that would make Kris Kobach proud.

“Brian Kemp would no doubt prefer folks pay attention to voter fraud witch hunts than examine his record. Just like Kris Kobach and Donald Trump, Kemp has spent his career lying about voter fraud in an attempt to suppress the votes of working families and minority communities. Such a fundamental right should not be a partisan issue—this is about our democracy and our American values.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director

While Kemp’s record of mismanagement and incompetence spans years, one needs to look no further than this very year:

For Second Time in Two Years, Millions of Georgia Voters Left Vulnerable in Data Breach. The FBI opened an investigation at Kennesaw State University’s Center for Election System for an alleged data breach. 7.5 million Georgia voter records may have been involved. In 2015, Brian Kemp’s office disclosed the social security numbers and other personal information of more than six million voters. [The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 3/3/17]

Technology Experts Call for Paper Ballots in Georgia Amid Suspected Cyber Attack, Data Breach, and Vulnerable Voting Machines. The organization Verified Voting expressed concern with Georgia’s lack of paper ballots to verify machine voting. [The Associated Press, 3/14/2017]

 

In Advance of GA-06 Special Election, Kemp Sued by Five Civil Rights and Civic Engagement Groups. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Georgia NAACP, and others, filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the state violated the National Voter Registration Act by setting the voter registration deadline for the runoff election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District for 3 months before the election. Under federal law, Georgia cannot set the registration deadline any earlier than 30 days before the election. [Huffington Post, 4/21/2017]

Judge Rules Kemp Violated Voter Registration Act, Re-Opens Voter Registration Period Ahead of GA-06 Special Election. U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten struck down the early voter registration deadline as part of a broader lawsuit brought by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Georgia NAACP, and others, accusing Georgia of violating federal law by reducing the amount of time residents have to register to vote. [New York Magazine, 5/5/2017]

Kemp Complies with Trump Administration’s Request For Georgia Voter Information. In the aftermath of President Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that millions voted illegally in the 2016 election, Kemp complied with the Administration’s commission on election integrity request for Georgia voter information, while many other states announced their intentions to refuse the request. [The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 6/30/17]

Georgia Begins Phasing In Paper Balloting To Address Vulnerable Voting Machines.  In the aftermath of a suspected cyber attack, Georgia will utilize paper ballots in an upcoming municipal election in Conyers, Georgia as a pilot effort. The effort comes as experts warn against machine only voting. [The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 9/5/17]

Trump’s DHS Chief Derides Holdout States Like Georgia for Not Accepting Cybersecurity Assistance. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said states that aren’t asking Washington for help in protecting their election systems from hackers are “nuts.” [Politico, 7/19/17]

More information on Brian Kemp’s record can be found here.

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Voter Protection Chair LTE: Georgia’s outdated voting machines threaten fair elections

Savannah Morning News // Letters to the Editor

The New York Times in its editorial, “Combating a Real Threat to Election Integrity,” addresses an important issue for Georgians. The article identifies the many and varied ways in which voting machines in many states – and Georgia is one of them – create an uncertain voting environment.

It is breathtaking to think that anyone believes voting on machines that are over 15 years old is satisfactory. No one would entrust any other part of their lives to a computer that old – a computer beyond warranties and that is not supported by manufacturers. Yet this is only the beginning of the issues that we must address.

The list is long: hours or locations making it difficult to vote; mazes of regulations on absentee voting; complex and discriminatory voter registration requirements; training of poll workers; a dangerous lack of security for machines. I am not alleging that any of these were the deciding factor in the outcome of an election, but when combined with the issues the NYT identifies, that day is not far away and it well could be in Georgia. A comprehensive assessment and prioritization of key steps – as has been recommended to Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp by the Department of Homeland Security – to improve the election system would be a far better expenditure of monies than looking for those rare individuals who voted from the grave.

PINNEY ALLEN

Atlanta

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Chair Allen’s letter can also be found in today’s edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Macon Telegraph.

 Georgia’s outdated voting machines threaten fair elections

BACKGROUND

Combating a Real Threat to Election Integrity

New York Times

Congress needs to allocate more money now to help states upgrade their equipment and computer systems, and to perform threat assessments. A key player is the federal Election Assistance Commission, which sets certification standards that almost every state relies on in buying new machines. The commission, established after the 2000 election debacle, has a tiny staff and a budget smaller than a rounding error. Its work has never been more urgently needed, and yet congressional Republicans are perpetually trying to kill it.

SoS Kemp: It’s Only Federal Overreach When a Democrat is President

                                                                                     

 

SoS Kemp: It’s Only Federal Overreach When a Democrat is President

Atlanta, GA –

 

“Brian Kemp has consistently stonewalled efforts that would ensure the integrity of our elections system. Now, just a little over a year after he handed out our private information unprovoked, he’s being asked by a panel of the nation’s leading voter suppression experts to willingly hand out that information once again and more. This move by the Trump administration is a blatant, partisan trick to suppress votes. With hostile foreign governments subverting American elections, we do not need to make our elections even more vulnerable. Georgia Democrats call on Brian Kemp to reject the Trump Administration’s demands, just as he most certainly would with the previous administration.” – DuBose Porter, Chair

 

From The Hill:

The vice chairman of President Trump’s commission on election integrity sent a letter to all 50 states Wednesday requesting information on their voter rolls.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is seeking several pieces of information about voters, including their names, birthdays, the last four digits of their Social Security numbers and their voting history dating back to 2006.

The letter, sent to the secretaries of state of all 50 states and obtained by The Hill, directs states to turn over “publicly-available voter roll data  including, if publicly available under the laws of your state, the full first and last names of all registrants, middle names or initials if available, addresses, dates of birth, political party (if recorded in your state), last four digits of social security number if available, [and] voter history from 2006 onward.”

 

So, will Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp comply?

 

Last year, when the Department of Homeland Security and the Intelligence Community warned Secretaries of State of a series of high-profile elections system breaches and offered a series of proactive scans and evaluations, Kemp scoffed at the idea. Initially, Kemp accused the government of “federal overreach” and labeled the IC’s offer as an attempt to “subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security.”

 

In November of 2015, Brian Kemp’s office released the Social Security numbers and private data of more than 6 million Georgia voters. Not only did Kemp’s breach endanger the economic security of millions of Georgians, his mistake cost taxpayers well into the seven figures.

 

Despite multiple warnings from the IC and security experts, and despite black and white evidence of Russian interference in our elections (and evidence of Donald Trump’s interference in the Russia investigation), Kemp remains in the minority of skeptics. According to the Washington Post, “Kemp said in a recent interview, adding that he remains unconvinced that Russia waged a campaign to disrupt the 2016 race. ‘I don’t necessarily believe that,’ he said.”

 

Further information, including a timeline of events, can be found here.

 

 

As SoS, Karen Handel Stonewalled Measures to Ensure Integrity of Elections System

Atlanta, GA – By now, it’s no secret that career politician Karen Handel has never met an elected office she didn’t want to occupy. But when she does actually get the job, she proves to be quite unskilled and unqualified.

“Karen Handel put her own personal agenda and ambition over her duties as Georgia’s chief elections officer, which is exactly what voters have come to expect from career politicians like Handel. Instead of heeding the advice of experts to properly administer our elections, she buried the report while having one foot out the door campaigning for her next elected office.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director 

The Washington Post reports:

Eleven years ago, after Karen Handel had been elected as Georgia’s first Republican secretary of state since Reconstruction, Richard DeMillo, head of the Office of Policy Analysis and Research at Georgia Tech, got a call about an important project. The state’s election system, updated with new machines, needed a hard look.

“They said: Take a look at our processes, take a look at our technology, and give us your opinion,” DeMillo said. “I assigned some people from our Information Security Center to work on it.”

In May 2008, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and Office of Policy Analysis and Research released its report, “A Security Study of the Processes and Procedures Surrounding Electronic Voting in Georgia.” A number of potential problems came up, from the transportation of election machines by prison laborers to password protection of machines and poll-watcher training.

“A malicious party with minimal knowledge of the voting machines could gain the confidence of the poll workers and thus access to the voting units,” the authors wrote. And the state’s Center for Election Systems, at Kennesaw State University, also was at risk. “The election center at Kennesaw State University fills a key role in Georgia’s statewide election procedures, which makes it a potential target of a systemic attack.”

In 2017, the threat became real; there was a data breach at Kennesaw State. While the Georgia secretary of state’s office said that key equipment was not touched, a lawsuit was filed in which worried parties demanded paper ballots in the June 20 special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. The plaintiffs lost, but concerns about the state’s 15-year old election system have bubbled up as Democrat Jon Ossoff campaigns against his Republican opponent — Karen Handel.

According to DeMillo, she didn’t follow up on the report.

“She seemed very interested in getting this, at the time,” he said. “Once she was in office for a few months, we heard nothing.”

A recent report from Politico also illustrates a Secretary of State Handel who ignored multiple warnings and actively resisted assistance in ensuring the integrity of Georgia’s elections system:

Someone who should be particularly concerned about the center’s security lapses and the use of the touch-screen machines in the upcoming election is Handel, the Republican vying for the 6th Congressional District seat. In 2006, when Handel ran for secretary of state of Georgia, she made the security of the state’s voting systems one of her campaign issues. After her win, she ordered a security review of the systems and the procedures for using them.

Experts at Georgia Tech conducted the review and found a number of security concerns, which they discussed in a report submitted to Handel. But, oddly, they were prohibited from examining the center’s network or reviewing its security procedures. Richard DeMillo, who was dean of computing at Georgia Tech at the time and led the review, told Politico he and his team argued with officials from the center in Handel’s office, but they were adamant that its procedures and networks would not be included in the review.

“I thought it was very strange,” says DeMillo. “It was kind of a contentious meeting. The Kennesaw people just stamped their foot and said ‘Over our dead body.’”

Although Handel could have insisted that the center’s network be included in the security review, she didn’t. But when DeMillo’s team submitted a draft of their report, he says she sent it back instructing them to add a caveat about the center’s absence from the review. It reads: “The Election Center at Kennesaw State University fills a key role in Georgia’s statewide election procedures, which makes it a potential target of a systematic attack. We did not have sufficient information to evaluate the security safeguards protecting against a centralized compromise at the state level.”

But once they delivered the finished report to Handel, DeMillo says, “We never heard anything more about it.” It’s not clear whether Handel’s office acted on recommendations made in the report. (Handel’s campaign office did not respond to a call for comment.)

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Department of Justice Looking in to SoS Kemp’s Elections Failures

Release:  Thursday, May 5, 2016                                                                                         

 

Department of Justice Looking in to SoS Kemp’s Elections Failures

 

Atlanta, GA – Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp just attracted the interest of the Department of Justice for his pattern of failure to properly administer Georgia’s voter registration system. On May 4, The United State Department of Justice filed a “Statement of Interest of the United States” with the Federal Court to probe Kemp’s purges of legitimate voters from Georgia voter rolls. The Department of Justice pointed to specific violations of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. NVRA governs voter registration and the maintenance of voter lists used in federal elections. HAVA establishes minimum standards to be used in federal elections.

“Time and again, Brian Kemp has proven to be unqualified to run a six foot extension cord, much less Georgia’s elections,” said Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter in statement. “This year, Georgia—and the rest of the country—will cast their ballots in the first major election since the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. There’s just too much at stake to trust a sloppy partisan like Kemp to administer our electoral process.”

Over the course of his career, Kemp has attracted attention for his partisan gimmicks to undermine the integrity of Georgia’s elections. The Secretary of State’s website has a well-documented history of inadequacy. Just last year, Kemp’s office violated and undermined the economic security of Georgia voters by publishing private information—including Social Security numbers—of registered voters. Last year’s data breach forced him to spend our tax dollars to recover the disks and provide security services for voters whose privacy was violated.

This year, Kemp admitted to inaccuracies in his own voter registration database that forced an unknown number of voters to vote in districts other than where they actually lived. Kemp has thus far refused to reopen qualifying House District 151, while allowing the Georgia Republic Party to open qualifying in state house primary three times.

 

Find the DOJ Statement of Interest at this link.

 

Data Breach Scandal Once Again Brings into Question Whether SoS Brian Kemp is Up to the Job

Release:  Thursday, November 19, 2015                                                                                         

 

Data Breach Scandal Once Again Brings into Question Whether Secretary of State Brian Kemp is Up to the Job

 

 

Atlanta, GA – Yesterday, several outlets reported that Secretary of State Brian Kemp may have compromised the privacy and economic security of more than six million Georgians by disclosing their social security numbers and other personal information.

 

But this isn’t the first time Kemp has proved incapable of handling large amounts of data. Other divisions of the Secretary of State have been in shambles for years.

 

The Professional Licensing Boards Division and Corporations Division—both of which are overseen by Brian Kemp—have both been plagued by reports of mismanagement.

 

Two years ago, concerns over the Nursing Board were raised, with the board president admitting that the “the board regularly takes upward of two years to process a complaint and issue a ruling.” At the time, it was reported that the North Carolina Board of Nursing regulated the same amount of nurses as Georgia, but processed complaints in “a fraction of the time”—taking an average of 45 days to resolve complaints. While a backlog of complaints in Georgia ballooned, nurses accused of malpractice—sometimes involving the death of a patient—were allowed to continue practicing medicine.

 

In early 2013, Brian Kemp was forced to extend annual corporation registrations due to SoS website issues.

 

Questions continue to pile up regarding Brian Kemp’s ability to effectively execute his duties as Secretary of State. While small business owners recovering from an economic recession have been hamstrung by his corporations division, patients put at risk because of backlogs, and licensed professionals—including electrical contractors, accountants, and cosmetologists—struggle with the licensing division’s renewal process, this latest debacle with Kemp’s elections division casts doubt on the Secretary of State’s ability to serve the people of Georgia.

 

“Either Brian Kemp’s office is a living disaster movie, or the procedures and safeguards in place are wholly ineffective. Kemp saying this data breach is a ‘clerical’ error is absolutely disrespectful to the millions of Georgians now fearing for their economic security—especially right before Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

 

“We have yet to hear what exactly Brian Kemp is doing to clean up this mess. Where is the hotline for consumers? Where is any kind of education from the SoS on how Georgians can protect their bank accounts? Where is the complete list of persons, organizations, or companies who received this personal information? Kemp needs to do right by Georgians and accept full responsibility for his egregious errors.” – Michael Smith, Democratic Party of Georgia Communications Director

 

 

 

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Background

 

WABE (11-18-2015) – 6 Million Ga. Voters’ Personal Information Released

 

AJC (11-18-2015) – Georgia: ‘Clerical error’ in data breach involving 6 million voters

 

WJCL (11-18-2015) – Lawsuit alleges Georgia’s Secretary of State released voters’ personal information

The GA Secretary of State May Have Just Compromised Your Security

Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that two Georgia voters have filed a class action lawsuit alleging “a massive data breach by Secretary of State Brian Kemp involving the Social Security numbers and other private information of more than six million voters statewide.”

 

Equally as bad—the Republicans in charge of this state haven’t done a damn thing to reach out to consumers, admit their mistakes and help Georgians protect themselves.

 

 

Well if the Secretary of State Brian Kemp won’t do it, and Governor Nathan Deal won’t do it, we will.

 

 

Here’s what you should know:

 

 

This wasn’t hacking. No one broke into the system and stole your identifying information. Brian Kemp simply gave it away—more than 30 days ago.

 

 

A lawsuit was filed and in it there are screenshots (redacted) of the plaintiffs’ information that was distributed. We know that the information contained on the disc that never should have been distributed include:

 

 

Your name

Your address

Your date of birth

Your social security number

Your drivers’ license

Your gender

Your race/ethnicity

Your phone number

 

 

Here’s how you can protect yourself:

 

 

If you believe that this breach of security may cause you to become a victim of identity theft, visit the website of or call one of the three main credit bureaus:

 

 

 

 

Request that an “Initial Alert” be placed on your account. This service is free and it places an alert on your account for 90 days that prevents from a new card being opened up in your name.  Check out THIS website to get more information.

 

 

If you believe you are already a victim of identity theft, please follow the steps outlined HERE.

 

 

You can download an entire booklet on identity theft at the Federal Trade Commission’s website HERE.

 

 

How do we protect ourselves in the future:

 

 

Vote these fools out of office. Seriously. We need someone who can use, update and protect databases in this state. And then, we need a group of statewide elected officials who actually believe in protecting us, Georgians and consumers.

 

GA Secretary of State Brian Kemp Compromises Privacy and Security of Millions of Georgians

Release:  Wednesday, November 18, 2015                                                                                      

 

GA Secretary of State Brian Kemp Compromises Privacy and Security of Millions of Georgians

 

 

Atlanta, GA – Today, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that two Georgia voters have filed a class action lawsuit alleging “a massive data breach by Secretary of State Brian Kemp involving the Social Security numbers and other private information of more than six million voters statewide.”

 

Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter issued the following statement in response to this news.

 

“This wasn’t hacking. This is a government official—Brian Kemp—distributing the personal identification information of over six million Georgians. My privacy has been compromised, and yours probably has as well. It’s been over a month, and not a single voter has been notified—it took a lawsuit for Georgians to learn that their information has been compromised.

 

“All we’ve heard from Republican leaders is a deafening silence. Not a word from Brian Kemp, not a word from Gov. Nathan Deal or Lt. Governor Casey Cagle. Attorney General Sam Olens has been silent. Nathan Deal should have already ordered a full investigation by the Inspector General.

 

“Brian Kemp’s incompetence has now put all Georgians on Red Alert.”

 

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