Georgia secretary of state restricts Fulton County, Georgia’s access to voter registration system
The office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Friday announced it’s restricting Fulton County officials’ access to the state’s voter registration system as a precautionary measure following a cyberattack on the county’s government IT services over the weekend.
While the incident downed the county’s phone, tax, court management systems, and limited certain transactions, including property tax transactions as well as obtaining firearms and marriage licenses, Fulton County officials said there was no evidence the county’s election systems were targeted.
“There is no indication that this event is related to the election process. In an abundance of caution, Fulton County and the Secretary of State’s respective technology systems were isolated from one another as part of the response efforts,” Jessica Corbitt, a spokesperson for Fulton County, told StateScoop in an emailed statement. “The Georgia Secretary of State and Fulton County are committed to election security and maintaining the integrity of our information systems.”
The statewide presidential primary election is slated for March 12, which, if the restriction by the Secretary of State’s Office isn’t lifted, could cause problems for the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections in the state’s most populous county, which contains parts of Atlanta.
“We are working with our team to securely re-connect these systems as preparations for upcoming elections continue,” Corbitt said.
The voter registration deadline in Georgia is Feb. 12, with in-person, early voting scheduled to start Feb. 19.
