Following municipal elections earlier this month, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is touting the successful implementation of the state’s new Georgia Registered Voter Information System, known as GARViS.
GARViS, which was deployed to all 159 Georgia counties in February 2023, is the state’s newest tool for election administrators. Raffensperger’s office said the tool brings election officials fully secure, cloud-based data warehousing. With a successful election under its belt, the new capacity has allowed for a faster, more streamlined voter check-in process during Advance Voting, which reduces the risk of clerical errors at polling places and improves the voter experience.
Additionally, the state said that for the first time Election Day voters who were checked-in using PollPads – the state’s electronic poll books – were able to see voter credit displaying on their GA My Voter Page within 30 minutes of checking in at the polls.
“The first major test of GARViS was a resounding success,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “Shorter wait times means less confusion at the polls, less errors, and increased voter confidence. We applaud our county election officials for getting the job done once again.”
GARViS was used by 122 counties conducting municipal elections this fall, and election officials across Georgia have been seeing positive improvements.
“The Poll Pads are working flawlessly with GARViS for the fastest, most accurate voting experience ever seen by voters in Georgia … it’s a win all the way around,” said Deb Cox, Lowndes County supervisor of elections.
The state noted that in terms of security, GARViS uses Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)-approved servers that reflect over 150,000 hours of development, testing, and deployment. GARViS hosts over 12 million voter records, including over seven million active voter records.
