Secretary of State Handel Commends the Georgia Supreme Court’s Unanimous Decision Affirming Use of Touch-Screen Voting Machines

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today commended the unanimous decision by the Georgia Supreme Court (Favorito et al. v. Handel et al.) affirming the constitutionality of touch-screen voting machines, and denying a claim that touch-screen voting violates voters’ equal protection rights. The Supreme Court’s decision upholds a 2008 Fulton County Superior Court ruling.

“Georgia has the most secure elections in the nation due to our four levels of security testing on touch-screen voting machines, our partnership with nationally renowned elections experts at the Kennesaw State University Center for Elections Systems, the dedication by county election officials to provide secure and fair elections at the local level and our photo ID requirement,” said Secretary Handel.

Georgia implemented electronic voting machines statewide in 2002.

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Cops who multitask well less likely to shoot unarmed persons when threatened, study shows

In the midst of life-threatening situations requiring split-second decisions, police officers with a higher ability to multitask are less likely to shoot unarmed persons when feeling threatened during video simulations, a new Georgia State University study suggests.

Heather Kleider, Dominic Parrott and Tricia King, assistant professors of psychology at Georgia State, have taken a unique look at officer-involved shooting situations, signs of negative emotions and working memory capacity — the capacity to perform multiple mental tasks, such as reasoning, at the same time.

Other studies have examined factors such as ethnicity, stereotypes, neighborhood crime rates and other factors, but this study examines the effects of police officers’ characteristics on shooting decisions.

“In cognitive psychology, operation span, or working memory, is an overarching cognitive mechanism that indicates the ability to multitask, and the amount of available capacity to perform tasks varies by individual and situation,” Kleider said. “People with a higher capacity are able to keep more things ‘in play’ at one time.”

Urban police officers participated in the study, completing a test of working memory capacity, and then watched a video of an officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of the officer, during which time negative affect and stress indicators were measured; including elevated heart rates and increased sweating.

Following the video, officers participated in a computer-based simulation where they were required to make split-second decisions whether to shoot or not to shoot someone, based on 80 slides that presented a person holding either a gun or a harmless object like a cell phone, for only a fraction of a second. Officers then pressed either a “shoot” or a “don’t shoot” button.

Analyzing the data, the researchers found that lower levels of working memory capacity increased the likelihood of shooting unarmed people among those officers who had higher levels of negative emotionality — a score determined by comparing readings of facial movement and heartbeat rates between a baseline reading and readings taken during the stressful situation.

Officers with a higher working memory capacity seemed to buffer officers against the negative effects of a threat when making shooting decisions.

“An important thing to consider is that some decision making requires controlled processing wherein balanced/accurate decisions require impulse control” Kleider explained. “For some people, this usurps a substantial amount of available working memory capacity to control impulses, and if you are someone with a lower capacity, it's harder to do.”

Psychologists are not sure whether working memory capacity can be increased with training, but Kleider and her colleagues are planning to investigate this, and are also planning to work with several police departments on a broader study to see if training and years of experience influence shooting decisions.

The study, “Shooting Behavior: How Working Memory and Negative Emotionality Influence Police Officer Shoot Decisions” will appear in a 2009 edition of Applied Cognitive Psychology.

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Georgia Secretary of State Applauds Decision Denying Photo ID Injunction

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel today applauded the decision by Fulton Superior Court Judge Tom Campbell to deny an attempt to block the implementation of the photo ID requirement in the November 4 General Election.

“I applaud Judge Campbell’s decision to uphold Georgia’s commonsense photo ID requirement which safeguards our elections against voter fraud,” said Secretary Handel.

Georgia’s photo ID law has been in place for 14 elections without incident. The Democratic Party of Georgia filed the lawsuit, the organization’s second attempt to block the use photo ID. To date, opponents of Georgia’s photo ID law have failed to produce one voter who has been unable to cast a ballot due to the requirement.

Judge Campbell’s decision comes a day after the Secretary of State’s Office was sued by MALDEF, ACLU and other organizations for conducting a legally mandated verification check on new voter registration applicants. Judge Camp declined to immediately grant injunctive relief and is expected to rule next week.

Voters will be required to show one of the following six forms of photo ID when voting in-person in the General Election:

· A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
· Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar or Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
· Valid U.S. passport;
· Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
· Valid U.S. military photo ID; or
· Valid tribal photo ID.

Karen Handel was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2007. The Secretary of State's office offers important services to our citizens and our business community. Among the office’s wide-ranging responsibilities, the Secretary of State is charged with conducting efficient and secure elections, the registration of corporations, and the regulation of securities and professional license holders. The office also oversees the Georgia Archives and the Capitol Museum.
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Secretary of State Handel Issues Decisions on Candidate Residency Challenges

Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel issued the following decisions today regarding candidate residency challenges.

Ian O’Brien v. Keith Gross: Secretary Handel adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and held that Keith Gross does not meet the residency requirements for state House of Representatives, District 80.

Prominent notices will be placed at each affected polling place advising voters of Mr. Gross’s disqualification, and all votes cast for Mr. Gross will be void and not counted.

Hillary O. Stewart v. Cecillia Hailey: Secretary Handel adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s decision to deny the challenge to Ms. Hailey’s residency.

Earnest “Coach” Williams v. Clyburn Halley, Jr.: Secretary Handel adopted the Administrative Law Judge’s decision to deny the challenge to Mr. Halley’s residency.

Joan Garner v. Erik Underwood: Based upon the evidence presented in the hearing officer’s findings of fact, Secretary Handel held that Mr. Underwood does not meet the residency requirements for state Senate District 36.

Mr. Underwood does not own property, does not pay rent, and does not receive mail in the district. OSAH hearing notices sent to the address provided by Mr. Underwood in his “Declaration of Candidacy and Affidavit” were returned undeliverable.

Prominent notices will be placed at each affected polling place advising voters of Mr. Underwood’s disqualification, and all votes cast for Mr. Underwood will be void and not counted.

Karen Handel v. James R. Powell: Based upon the evidence, Secretary Handel held that Jim Powell does not meet the residency requirements for Public Service Commission, District 4.

Mr. Powell owns a home in Towns County, which is within District 4. However, at the time he qualified as a candidate for Public Service Commission, District 4, he received a homestead exemption and continued to receive mail at a home owned in Cobb County, which is not within District 4. He also provided his Cobb County address as his mailing address to the Towns County Tax Assessors Office.

Prominent notices will be placed at each affected polling place advising voters of Mr. Powell’s disqualification, and all votes cast for Mr. Powell will be void and not counted.