Georgia is today a success story for election modernization. In three years, it transitioned from a completely traditional manual process to implementing technology in key election phases, significantly enhancing election integrity.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia spearheaded this initiative by adopting a progressive approach to election modernization. It started in October 2021 with a small implementation of electronic counting in the Municipal elections, gradually the use of technology with each election cycle.
After five small-scale implementations, a nationwide deployment of the technology took place during the 2024 Parliamentary elections. This technology served nearly 90% of voters across 2,263 polling centers. Smartmatic has been a proud technology partner throughout this entire modernization journey.
Technology
In 2024, the CEC deployed Smartmatic technology to improve the voter identity verification process and streamlining vote counting.
Voter Identification Units
Smartmatic authentication technology is designed to help election commissions optimize their voter management processes, and to empower poll workers.
In Georgia, 7,508 VIU Desktop were used to validate the identity of voters at the polling stations by reading the MRZ code in voter’s national identity cards. The devices also printed polling station voters’ list, as well as opening and closing reports.
Electronic counting
Georgia deployed Smartmatic’s bScan Precinct 1800Plus, an optical scanner specifically designed to automate vote counting in paper-based elections. These optical scanners help election management bodies process votes securely and accurately, while maintaining a familiar voting experience for those accustomed to marking their vote on a paper ballot.
Every vote cast using Smartmatic’s bScan Precinct 1800Plus generates a digital record including the scanned image of the ballot, alongside a detailed summary of the selections made on it. This information can be used during audit processes, making the election process more transparent and secure.
The bScan Precinct 1800Plus used in Georgia does not record any information that could be used to determine the time each vote was cast, thereby eliminating the possibility of linking a vote to a voter.
During the 2024 Parliamentary elections, polling stations were furnished with 2 or 3 of these scanners. The devices remained air-gapped throughout the entire election process, and only connected with each other for results consolidation after polls closed.
Audited by experts
The CEC hired the services of Pro V&V, a US-based independent company specializing in auditing and certifying election technology.
Pro V&V conducted an independent compliance audit for the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Georgia, focusing on the functionalities, configuration and source code of the election technology, including the bScan Precinct 1800Plus, VIU (Voter Identification Unit), and Tablets used in the elections.
The audit involved verifying the proper configuration of the devices, ensuring that voter’s lists and candidate’s lists were accurate, and conducting a comparative source code review of the voting systems against previous versions to ensure legality and system integrity.
Pro V&V was able to validate that Smartmatic’s optical scanners, the bScan Precinct 1800Plus and the Voter Identification Units, were configured to have no internet connection during the voting process.