Comparing Candidates: Secretary of State

The Secretary of State oversees elections, voting, and business licensing in Georgia

Current Secretary of State: Brad Raffensberger

• The Secretary of State runs many important administrative functions for Georgia, including overseeing elections, professional licensing, and business filings.
• When it comes to elections, the Secretary of State is in charge of supervising and monitoring elections, managing the voter registration process, and preparing ballots.
• The Secretary of State is in charge of registering new businesses so they can legally begin operations. They are also in charge of renewing business licenses and permits.
• In addition to these responsibilities, the Secretary of State also manages and preserves public records, provides educational programs about the capitol, and oversees Georgia’s securities’ market.
• The Secretary of State is elected to 4 year terms by statewide election.

2022 Candidates for Secretary of State

Where do the candidates stand on the issues that matter to you?

The Issues that Matter	Bee Nguyen Democrat	Brad Raffensperger Republican	Ted Metz Libertarian
Voter Registration	Wants to install computerized kiosks in grocery stores located in areas with spotty Internet access, to enable voters to update registrations.	As Secretary of State, he introduced a new voter registration system to be implemented in March 2022. He said, “this new system is more advanced, more secure, and more user-friendly and will give our election directors and my office new tools to better manage our election efforts.” Opposes same-day voter registration, which he said “undermines trust” in elections. Said, “I believe only American Citizens should be voting in our elections.” As Secretary of State, he proposed a Georgia constitutional amendment restricting the right to vote to only American citizens. The measure failed to pass in the Georgia Senate. As Secretary of State, he removed 309,000 voters from Georgia’s list of registered voters. He conducted a full citizenship check on all voters on the Georgia voter list. He also enrolled Georgia in the Electric Registration Information System, which allows Georgia to identify and remove voters who have moved to other states.	Ted Metz’s website did not contain information on this issue.
Voting Access	Wants to communicate by mail, text and email with registered voters when trying to maintain current voter rolls information, instead of using only mail. Wants to make more information on voting available in languages other than English.	Supports SB 202, saying the photo ID requirement will “improve security and voter confidence.” As Secretary of State, he launched Georgia’s online absentee ballot request portal during the 2020 elections.	Said, “[r]egardless of you political philosophy, casting a ballot should be an easy process…Georgia voters have the right to honest, transparent, and auditable elections.” Supports voter ID and absentee signature matching.
Election Integrity	Wants to add cybersecurity expertise to the Secretary of State’s Office. They would monitor threats to the election system, monitor disinformation and conspiracies online, and communicate with county election officials in real-time. As a Representative, she voted against the current computerized elections system and in favor of using hand-marked paper ballots. As a Representative, she voted to overturn the “exact match” voter registration law, which had frozen 53,000 applications during the 2018 midterm elections.	As Secretary of State, he refuted former President Trump’s claims of election fraud in the 2020 election. This was after his office conducted a recount and declared President Biden the winner. As Secretary of State, he advocated for making it illegal to return someone else’s completed absentee ballot to the board of registrars. He also advocated to make it illegal for anyone but an authorized election official to take a ballot from a drop-box and open it. Both of these are now felonies under SB 202.	Opposes electronic voting systems and supports paper ballots. Supports a strict chain of custody, election audits, public ballot inspections, and prosecution and prison time of election-related offenses. Opposes ballot drop boxes, “ballot harvesting,” private and corporate election funding, and third party temporary election staffing.
Small Businesses	As of July 5, 2022, Bee Nguyen’s website did not contain information on this issue and Bee Nguyen did not complete our questionnaire.	As Secretary of State, Brad implemented the 3-year business license renewal process, which “cuts down on red tape and saves small businesses time on refiling their paperwork.”	Wants “to stop the Corporate Takeover [sic] of the Government.”