Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that Georgia has ranked first on the Heritage Foundation’s new Election Integrity Scorecard. After passage of Georgia’s new election law, SB202, Georgia received 83 out of a total possible 100 points, and top marks in voter ID implementation, voter list accuracy, and citizenship verification. Georgia was ranked as the top state in the country for Election Integrity.

“The Heritage Foundation’s recognition of Georgia’s election system is confirmation of what I have believed all along, Georgia’s election system is secure and reliable,” said Raffensperger. “Since day one, I have worked hard to ensure the integrity of Georgia’s election system and worked with the General Assembly to further improve Georgia’s election laws and increase voter confidence. I thank the General Assembly for including provisions such as photo ID for absentee ballot voting into that I have advocated for since I first ran for Secretary of State.”

The Heritage Foundation, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., released today a new scorecard ranking each state on the integrity and security of their election systems. Georgia was ranked first among the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia with a total of 83 out of 100 possible points.

Georgia’s election system fared particularly well in voter ID implementation, receiving 20 out of 20 possible points in the category. Georgia also received a perfect score in citizenship verification, access of election observers, requiring voter registration before Election Day, and restriction of private funding to election officials or government agencies.

Notably, Georgia’s election system received 3 out of 3 points for vote counting practices, including receiving points for never connecting voting and tabulating machines to the internet.

Georgia’s election system scored 17 out of 21 points for absentee ballot management. The Heritage Foundation’s ranking acknowledged that Georgia does not automatically send absentee ballot request forms or ballots themselves to all registered voters, requires Georgia voters to request absentee ballots, and requires all ballots to be returned by close of polls on Election Day.

Georgia also tied for 5th for the accuracy of its voter registration lists, receiving all points for running data comparisons between the voter registration list and several sources, such as the Department of Driver Services, outside of the Secretary of State’s Office.