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Jun 15 2017

As SoS, Karen Handel Stonewalled Measures to Ensure Integrity of Elections System

Atlanta, GA – By now, it’s no secret that career politician Karen Handel has never met an elected office she didn’t want to occupy. But when she does actually get the job, she proves to be quite unskilled and unqualified.

“Karen Handel put her own personal agenda and ambition over her duties as Georgia’s chief elections officer, which is exactly what voters have come to expect from career politicians like Handel. Instead of heeding the advice of experts to properly administer our elections, she buried the report while having one foot out the door campaigning for her next elected office.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director 

The Washington Post reports:

Eleven years ago, after Karen Handel had been elected as Georgia’s first Republican secretary of state since Reconstruction, Richard DeMillo, head of the Office of Policy Analysis and Research at Georgia Tech, got a call about an important project. The state’s election system, updated with new machines, needed a hard look.

“They said: Take a look at our processes, take a look at our technology, and give us your opinion,” DeMillo said. “I assigned some people from our Information Security Center to work on it.”

In May 2008, the Georgia Tech Information Security Center and Office of Policy Analysis and Research released its report, “A Security Study of the Processes and Procedures Surrounding Electronic Voting in Georgia.” A number of potential problems came up, from the transportation of election machines by prison laborers to password protection of machines and poll-watcher training.

“A malicious party with minimal knowledge of the voting machines could gain the confidence of the poll workers and thus access to the voting units,” the authors wrote. And the state’s Center for Election Systems, at Kennesaw State University, also was at risk. “The election center at Kennesaw State University fills a key role in Georgia’s statewide election procedures, which makes it a potential target of a systemic attack.”

In 2017, the threat became real; there was a data breach at Kennesaw State. While the Georgia secretary of state’s office said that key equipment was not touched, a lawsuit was filed in which worried parties demanded paper ballots in the June 20 special election for Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. The plaintiffs lost, but concerns about the state’s 15-year old election system have bubbled up as Democrat Jon Ossoff campaigns against his Republican opponent — Karen Handel.

According to DeMillo, she didn’t follow up on the report.

“She seemed very interested in getting this, at the time,” he said. “Once she was in office for a few months, we heard nothing.”

A recent report from Politico also illustrates a Secretary of State Handel who ignored multiple warnings and actively resisted assistance in ensuring the integrity of Georgia’s elections system:

Someone who should be particularly concerned about the center’s security lapses and the use of the touch-screen machines in the upcoming election is Handel, the Republican vying for the 6th Congressional District seat. In 2006, when Handel ran for secretary of state of Georgia, she made the security of the state’s voting systems one of her campaign issues. After her win, she ordered a security review of the systems and the procedures for using them.

Experts at Georgia Tech conducted the review and found a number of security concerns, which they discussed in a report submitted to Handel. But, oddly, they were prohibited from examining the center’s network or reviewing its security procedures. Richard DeMillo, who was dean of computing at Georgia Tech at the time and led the review, told Politico he and his team argued with officials from the center in Handel’s office, but they were adamant that its procedures and networks would not be included in the review.

“I thought it was very strange,” says DeMillo. “It was kind of a contentious meeting. The Kennesaw people just stamped their foot and said ‘Over our dead body.’”

Although Handel could have insisted that the center’s network be included in the security review, she didn’t. But when DeMillo’s team submitted a draft of their report, he says she sent it back instructing them to add a caveat about the center’s absence from the review. It reads: “The Election Center at Kennesaw State University fills a key role in Georgia’s statewide election procedures, which makes it a potential target of a systematic attack. We did not have sufficient information to evaluate the security safeguards protecting against a centralized compromise at the state level.”

But once they delivered the finished report to Handel, DeMillo says, “We never heard anything more about it.” It’s not clear whether Handel’s office acted on recommendations made in the report. (Handel’s campaign office did not respond to a call for comment.)

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Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: Georgia Democrats, Georgia Republicans, Press Releases · Tagged: 6th Congressional District, Brian Kemp, Georgia elections, Georgia Secretary of State, hacking, Karen Handel

Apr 26 2017

Karen Handel to Profit from Fundraiser Hosted by Donald Trump Because Karen Handel

Atlanta, GA – What do you get when you pair a self-centered vanity candidate always on the lookout for a get-rich-quick scheme with another self-centered vanity candidate always on the lookout for a get-rich-quick scheme? A Karen Handel fundraiser hosted by Donald Trump.

This Friday, Donald Trump will spend the day in Atlanta, capping off his trip with a high dollar fundraiser for Karen Handel. Barely limping in to the 6th Congressional District runoff and disliked by members of her own party, Handel is now reliant upon national Republicans to fund a campaign that has perpetually teetered on the edge of irrelevance. Further illustrating the GOP’s scramble to buy voters’ love, the Congressional Leadership Fund—a super PAC aligned with House Republicans—announced Wednesday it was spending another $3.5 million dollars in Georgia ahead of the June runoff.

“National Republicans are trying to buy another seat in Congress—essentially buying another ‘Yes’ vote to take away Georgians’ health care and cut taxes for the rich. But all the money in the world won’t expunge perpetual politician Karen Handel’s record of misusing taxpayer dollars as Secretary of State. And it certainly won’t buy the enthusiasm and energy we’re seeing in the Democratic Party.” – Michael Smith, Communications Director

For years, Karen Handel has been mired in scandal for misuse of tax dollars. While serving as Secretary of State, Handel chose a $587-per-month taxpayer-funded allowance for a luxury SUV over the standard state car. During what was dubbed as Georgia’s “greatest budget crisis since the Great Depression,” Handel suggested spending between $15,000 and $18,000 of tax dollars on new chairs.

As Secretary of State, Handel fired 40 workers yet found room in the budget to spend $13,500 in travel in 2008 and 2009 alone. In fact, Handel’s personal office budget rose by 42 percent as Secretary Of State. But the habit of looking out for herself at the expense of others was nothing new at that point, as her personal office budget rose by 43 percent while serving as Fulton County Commissioner.

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Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: Georgia Republicans, Press Releases · Tagged: 6th Congressional District, Donald Trump, Flip the 6th, Karen Handel

Feb 15 2017

Memo from Executive Director on CD 6 Special Election

 

Fellow Democrats:

 

After Tom Price’s confirmation by the United States Senate as the new Health and Human Services Secretary, Governor Deal called a special election for the open seat in the 6th Congressional District. This seat covers parts of Northeast Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb.

 

Qualifying for the seat opened on February 13th and closed at 1:00PM on the 15th of February. Candidates did not qualify with their political parties, but rather with the Secretary of State directly.

 

Numerous candidates have qualified— 11 Republicans, 5 Democrats and 2 Independents. To qualify, candidates had to file official paperwork with the state and pay a fee of $5,220 to the Secretary of State to appear on the ballot.

 

You can see who the candidates at the Secretary of State’s webpage here:  http://elections.sos.ga.gov/GAElection/CandidateDetails

 

Simply select the year 2017 on the drop down menu for “Year,” and the April 18th Special Federal Election in the second drop down menu called “Election.”  Then hit the red button called “Qualified Candidates” and you will see a list of everyone along with their contact information.

 

Important Dates:

 

March 20, 2017 is the last day to register to vote for all persons who live in the district.

March 27, 2017 marks the first day of early vote.

April 18th, 2017 is Election Day. Polls will be open in the district from 7:00AM to 7:00PM.

 

A candidate must achieve at least 50% plus 1 of the vote in order to avoid a run-off. If no candidate receives that share of the votes, then a run-off election between the top two vote getters will commence on:

June 20, 2017— date of run-off election.

 

The district has historically been dominated by Republicans— which was by design as the Republicans drew the map for this district after the last census. However, last November’s election showed real promise for a competitive seat as Donald Trump only narrowly bested Hillary Clinton in total votes.

 

It will be imperative that Democrats register to vote if they are not already registered, and turn out to vote in this election— both on the 18th of April and, in all probability, for the June 20th run-off election. Voter registration info and more can be found at this link.

 

Volunteers are needed to ensure that every Democrat knows how and when to vote in this election. If you are interested in volunteering for the Democratic Party of Georgia, please reach out to Chrystian Woods, the Director of Organizing and Outreach at [email protected]

 

You can also reach out directly to the campaigns themselves to advocate on behalf of a specific candidate.

 

Thank you,

 

Rebecca DeHart

Executive Director

 

 

Written by PNM Admin · Categorized: Georgia Democrats, Georgia Republicans, Party News · Tagged: 6th Congressional District, special election, Tom Price

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