Buzz Brockway

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — With early voting having commenced for the May 22 primary, a Georgia Secretary of State candidate is making sure voters’ choices in elections are secure a key plank in his platform.

State Rep. Buzz Brockway (R-Lawrenceville) said in a campaign stop Tuesday in Thomasville one of his main issues is reforming the state’s elections. The state Secretary of State office oversees statewide elections.

Voting machines, Brockway said, are getting old and many are more than 15 years old.

“As I’ve traveled Georgia, I’ve found that some places are in better shapes than others,” he said. “But some counties are buying machines off eBay to scavenge them for parts to keep other machines up and going. We’re going to have address that situation.”

Brockway said there is now a lack of trust in the government and people also are starting to distrust elections results.

“We’ve got to address that head on,” he said. “There are some steps we can take to do that.”

Last year, a breach of Georgia voters’ data was discovered. Also, federal officials found that Russian hackers had penetrated voter registration databases in some states but had not gotten into voting or tabulation machines.

“Hacking is out there,” Brockway said, adding that voter data is increasingly under threat.

He said the state did not have to look far for help if needed to do so — the U.S. Army Cyber Command is now headquartered at Fort Gordon in Augusta and most credit card transactions are processed by companies headquartered in Georgia.

“In Georgia, we have some of the best cyber security minds,” Brockway said. “Those folks know how to keep stuff secure. We can learn from them on how to keep data secure.”

Brockway also said the state should go back to paper ballots and have them counted electronically. He also called for having post-election audits, where a sampling of ballots is used to see if the ballots match the results.

“Those are the kinds of the things we can do to restore that trust,” he said.

Brockway, a 1990 graduate of Georgia Tech with a degree in management science and an operations manager by trade, said it bothers him that people have to pay an expedite fee to get their corporate or licensing paperwork processed quickly.

“Professional licensing is another big issue,” he said. “We’ve seen across the country this creeping growth of government to license more professions. And I think that’s harmful. We’re beginning to license professions I don’t know we really need to license. That’s keeping otherwise qualified people out of jobs.”

While metro Atlanta is seeing the benefits of a recovering economy, Brockway said not all parts of Georgia are catching up as quickly. He believes the office he seeks can play a role in that recovery.

Brockway said he wants to find a way to where the state can work with local governments to give those people wanting to start a business a “one-stop shop” to get the permits and information they need.

“We’re proud we’re considered the best state in the nation to do business in. But we also have to be the easiest,” he said. “I think that’s where the secretary of state can come in. If we can simplify those and streamline those.”

Brockway has served in the state House of Representatives for four terms. He currently sits on the Appropriations, Economic Development and Tourism, Insurance and Education committees.

He also said he does not plan on using the Secretary of State’s office as a launching pad for another statewide office.

“A lot of people have looked at this as a stepping stone,’ Brockway said. ‘I think that does the office a disservice. I’m nerdy enough to care about this stuff. We’re thinking about ways to streamline the process on how to start corporations, how to shorten the lines on election days. Those things excite me.

“I want to do this job,” he continued. “I’ve goals I want to accomplish there. I’m not going to sit here for a few years and run off and do something else.”

Editor Pat Donahue can be reached at (229) 226-2400 ext. 1806.