Secretary Raffensperger Congratulates Paulding County for Election Excellence
Atlanta – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger congratulates the Paulding County Board of Elections and Voter Registration as a recipient of the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) Clearinghouse Award for “Outstanding Innovations in Elections” for their work in the 2022 midterm election. Paulding County was one of the four recipients nationwide in the small and medium jurisdiction category to be honored by the EAC.
In 2022, Paulding County created a Voter Education Guide that was received by each county household with registered voters. The guide provided information on election laws, procedures, and the importance of being an engaged citizen. The public response was overwhelming, and the county commission moved to include funding to produce an updated voter guide for each general election.
Secretary Raffensperger was pleased at Paulding County’s award receipt, saying “Election offices like Paulding County may not be the ones you hear about during elections, but they are leading the way in serving their customers – the Georgia voter. I congratulate Paulding County for this fantastic recognition.”
Each year, The Election Assistance Commission recognizes election offices across the country for customer service, innovation, and best practices. “The spotlight on U.S. elections has never been brighter, and the EAC is pleased to honor the work of these offices to make elections more secure, technologically advanced, and accessible to voters,” said EAC Chairwoman Christy McCormick, Vice Chair Ben Hovland, Commissioner Donald Palmer, and Commissioner Thomas Hicks in a joint statement. “Especially as election administrators prepare for the 2024 presidential election, we encourage them to review the great work of these Clearie Award-winning jurisdictions for ideas they may want to replicate in their communities.”
Paulding County Board of Elections and Voter Registration serves approximately 125,000 voters.
###
Georgia is recognized as a national leader in elections. It was the first state in the country to implement the trifecta of automatic voter registration, at least 17 days of early voting (which has been called the “gold standard”), and no-excuse absentee voting. Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system. Most recently, Georgia ranked #1 for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, a top ranking for Voter Accessibility by the Center for Election Innovation & Research, and tied for number one in Election Administration by the Bipartisan Policy Center.