Georgia Secretary of State: Tim Fleming, Penny Brown Reynolds

Penny Brown Reynolds (D)

Brown Reynolds said she wanted to work to expand voter access by making sure that counties have all the resources that they need to conduct elections, including the necessary security for election workers, volunteers and poll watchers.

“Right now all of our counties are not resourced in the same way,” she said. “We want to make certain that the 3,000 voting precincts across our 159 counties have all that they need.”

Ensuring that voters’ questions about upcoming elections get answered accurately will be another top priority for Brown Reynolds.

“I think the information and the dispelling of misinformation is going to be absolutely important,” she said.

Tim Fleming (R)

Fleming said the nearly eight years he spent working in the secretary of state’s office have given him the hands-on experience that Georgia residents need in their top elections official.

“As the next secretary of state, we’ll fight hard every day to ensure that our elections are secure, fair, transparent and trusted,” he said.

That experience, coupled with his time in the state Legislature, give him the tools he needs to hit the ground running, he added.

“We will not have a learning curve, and it’s very important the next secretary of state can get to work day one because they’re going to have a big task,” he said.

Penny Brown Reynolds (D)

Brown Reynolds said voting by mail was a “crucial” resource for many voters, including those who live overseas, those with disabilities and elderly residents. She also emphasized the need to reassure voters about absentee voting amid federal efforts to change the process ahead of the midterms.

“What I want to do is make certain that we give our voters enough notice about voting by mail so that they can feel confident about it,” she said.

For some voters, she noted, absentee voting is the easiest way for them to cast their ballot and should remain an option under state law.

“There are people taking care of their families or their elderly parents, and they may not be able to go out to a precinct or voting place to go and vote, disability may prevent them from doing that,” she said. “So voting by mail has to become and stay a viable alternative for people to vote.”

Tim Fleming (R)

Fleming said the state should “take a hard look” at its current absentee ballot policies and encourage voters to cast a ballot in person, citing the state’s mandated three weeks of early voting.

“I believe with all the opportunities we have to vote, we need to make it a priority to vote in person,” he said.

Georgia is currently a no-excuse absentee voting state, meaning any voter can request an absentee ballot for any reason. But Fleming said he would support changing that policy, which has been in place in Georgia since 2005.

“I think the Legislature needs to look at possibly going back to the only way you could get an absentee ballot is if you’re elderly, disabled or you’re [an overseas or military] voter,” he said. “Other than that, there are ample opportunities to vote in person, and you’ve got to make it a priority to vote.”

Penny Brown Reynolds (D)

Brown Reynolds said that while she supports requiring voters to provide identification, she does not support the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote.

“It is against the law for [noncitizens] to vote,” she said. “They will risk prison and deportation.”

Brown Reynolds said that any noncitizens who voted would be “held to the fullest extent of the law,” but said she did not see the issue as a widespread problem.

“We have valid and safe elections here in Georgia,” she said “I believe that ID procedures that we have now have been working.”

Tim Fleming (R)

Fleming said that as secretary of state, he would work to “make sure that every legal Georgia citizen has access to the voting process.”

On the subject of federal interference in Georgia’s elections, Fleming said he sees election administration as a job for state — rather than federal — government.

“The Constitution clearly states that elections are left to be ran and held by the states,” Fleming said, adding that he would work with officials in all 159 counties to ensure that elections run smoothly.

“The secretary of state and the county elections officials are the ones who need to run elections in Georgia,” he said.

Penny Brown Reynolds (D)

Brown Reynolds said she hopes to launch an initiative called “Opening the Gate” during her first 90 days in office.

“What we want to do is take away the fact that you have to know a guy, or you have to know somebody, or you have to be connected in order to do business,” she said.

The program will help small businesses from all across the state get connected with resources, such as networking, publicity and investor opportunities.

“One of my main priorities is to make certain that most of the commerce in our state comes as a result of small businesses and entrepreneurs,” she said. “I really want to be able to honor that, not just in the Atlanta metropolitan area, but in all 159 counties.”

Tim Fleming (R)

One of Fleming’s top priorities, he said, will be speeding up the process of obtaining or renewing a professional license. During his time in the secretary of state’s office, he said licenses were issued in a matter of days.

But more recently, “sometimes it’s taken weeks, if not months, [for Georgians] to get their license so they can get in the workforce,” he said. “We have got to fix that.”

Those delays, he said, can severely impact small businesses in the state.

“A lot of these licensees are small business owners, which is the backbone to Georgia and to the country,” he said.

He pledged to work with the Legislature to pass reforms aimed at improving the process.

Penny Brown Reynolds (D)

• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock
• U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams
• Former Gov. Roy Barnes
• State Sen. Jaha Howard
• Georgia Conservation Voters

Tim Fleming (R)

• Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper
• U.S. Reps. Rick Allen, Andrew Clyde and Austin Scott
• State Sens. Jason Dickerson and Ed Setzler
• State Reps. Beth Camp, John Carson and Katie Dempsey
• Frontline Policy Action