Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) assured the state’s voters that the upcoming election is safe and that voters’ ballots will be counted.

Raffensperger said that regardless of which presidential candidate wins the 2024 White House election, “every voter in our state should know that the results will stand because the election is safe.”

“Election security starts with very accurate voter registration lists — and even to get on that list, Georgia verifies the U.S. citizenship of everyone trying to register to vote,” Raffensperger. he wrote in an opinion piece published Thursday in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Noncitizens cannot vote in Georgia,” he continued, adding that the state verifies applications against a database maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. “Registering to vote or even attempting to register to vote as a non-citizen is a felony under both federal and state law and carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.”

He wrote that the maintenance of voter lists is done “on a daily basis” and stressed that voters must present a government-issued ID and sign an oath.

Raffensperger said in the op-ed that the ballots are printed on “a special paper with security features embedded in the fibers of the ballot.”

“Election workers in Georgia can use a hand-held scanner to detect the presence of security features woven into the fibers of the ballot itself to detect any counterfeit ballots,” he said, adding that this year’s ballots have a ” unique watermark to visually identify any attempt. to create a fake ballot.”

Earlier this month, Republican election official removed claims of voter fraud as the state recorded a historic turnout for early voting. Days later, he he also warned Republicans those vote integrity claims will “really hurt” GOP turnout.

Raffensperger concluded the op-ed by supporting the state’s election workers, saying they are “hard-working public servants who do their best under intense public scrutiny and tight deadlines.”

“There are people who live, work and worship in the communities you live in,” he added. “They keep an eye on the process and if something out of the ordinary happens, they notice.”

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