Slate: “For example, during early voting in 2020, Georgia’s statewide voter registration database was having trouble handling the logins of election staff across the state. The problem caused extremely long lines. Georgia officials weren’t able to fix it immediately, but within a few days the issue was addressed, lines improved, and voters who might have not been able to stand in long lines because of work or other obligations still had opportunities to cast their ballot. If there had only been one or two days for in-person voting, those voters might not have had another chance. And the lines would have been even longer, with many more voters showing up to cast their ballot at once.
Many of the so-called election integrity bills would reduce the availability of ballot drop boxes—one bill in Florida would eliminate them entirely. During the 2020 election, drop boxes were a convenient voting option for many people who might have been concerned about the reliability of the post office: Voters could drop their absentee ballot into a nearby box instead of showing up to polling places on Election Day. This helped reduce the lines at polling places for those voters who preferred or needed the in-person option instead. Drop boxes helped all voters—absentee and in-person—by making sure they didn’t all show up to the polling place on Election Day, which would have made it harder for poll workers to deal with inevitable technical problems or cyberattacks. Even if fears of delays with the postal system subside in the future, cyberattacks or staffing cuts could result in slow mail service, or election officials could have trouble processing ballot requests quickly, leading to delays in voters receiving their ballots in time to mail them back. Drop boxes will help ensure the resiliency of the system.
And finally, bills being introduced attacking same-day voter registration undermine the recovery capabilities these systems provide for two of the biggest vulnerabilities in U.S. elections: voter registration databases and electronic poll books. Many of them—including in Georgia—are not formally certified to any security standards. This makes them more vulnerable to cyberattacks or breakdowns. When registration is required in order to be eligible to vote, attacks on the registration lists can have a devastating effect, impeding the ability of election workers to check in voters at polling places or process their mail ballots. Same-day registration is a fail-safe—even if the list is compromised, voters can register on the day they show up to vote and cast their ballots.”