Secretary of State Kemp Announces Expansion of Driver’s License Bar Code Scanner Pilot Project for General Primary

Atlanta – Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp today announced that his office is expanding the state’s driver’s license bar code scanner pilot project to additional counties for the July 20 general primary. The bar code scanner pilot project was successfully utilized in Bartow County in the May 11, 2010 Georgia House District 12 Special Election and the June 8 Congressional District 9 Special Election Runoff in Hall and Catoosa Counties.

The Secretary of State’s Elections Division has distributed more than 700 driver’s license bar code scanners to 31 counties. The bar code scanners will create a more efficient and accurate check-in process for voters who cast their ballot in person on Election Day. If a voter’s driver’s license number is already recorded in the poll book, poll workers will scan the bar code on the back of the voter’s Georgia driver’s license or state identification card to immediately find the voter in the poll book and check them in to vote. This process will eliminate the need to manually look up every voter in the poll book.

“The expansion of the bar code scanner pilot project will allow a diverse group of rural and urban counties to speed the check-in process and decrease waiting times at the polls for even more Georgia voters,” said Secretary Kemp. “Additionally, the bar code scanners improve the accuracy of creating voter access cards, and reduce the search time for a voter record from its current average of 10 to 15 seconds to almost instantaneous.”

The bar code scanners do not change the check-in process in order to vote in an election. Voters must still complete a voter’s certificate at their polling location. As required by Georgia law, poll workers must also check each voter’s photo identification to ensure that it matches the voter. Voters using photo identification other than a Georgia driver’s license or state identification card will be processed as they have before by poll workers using the electronic poll books to type in the voter’s name.

In the future, bar codes will be added to the free Voter Identification Cards issued by county registrars, enabling voters who do not have a driver’s license to use a VIC for the bar code scanning check-in process.

Secretary Kemp is a national leader in implementing e-government solutions for his state’s voters. Earlier this year, Secretary Kemp implemented the MVP voter education website and the Stop Voter Fraud website. MVP allows voters to view a sample ballot specific to that voter for upcoming elections, find their Election Day polling location and early voting locations in their county, check their registration status, track the status of their absentee ballot, and more.

The Stop Voter Fraud website gives Georgians the opportunity to help the Secretary of State’s office take every measure possible to ensure the integrity, security, and fairness of Georgia’s elections. Citizens who witness questionable election-related activity can submit a Stop Voter Fraud form, or call the Secretary of State’s Voter Fraud Hotline at 877-725-9797.

Brian Kemp was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2010. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives and the Capitol Museum.

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