A newly highlighted vulnerability in Georgia’s voting system is raising concerns about whether it may be possible in some circumstances to determine how individual voters cast their ballots.

The issue does not involve changing votes, altering vote totals or the accuracy of election results. Instead, researchers say the concern centers on ballot secrecy — the constitutional principle that no one should be able to determine how a particular voter voted.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that security researchers say a known flaw in the voting equipment used across Georgia can allow electronic ballot records to be reconstructed in the order the ballots were cast. When those records are combined with other publicly available election records, researchers say it may be possible to connect some individual voters with their ballots.

Georgia voters generally make their selections using touchscreen ballot-marking devices, which produce a paper ballot. The voter reviews that ballot and then feeds it into a scanner for tabulation.

When a ballot is scanned, the system creates an electronic cast-vote record, commonly called a CVR, as well as an electronic ballot image. Georgia rules make ballot images subject to public disclosure, and the Secretary of State maintains a public Ballot Image Library.

The concern is that although electronic records are randomized, researchers discovered in 2022 that the software could allow those records to be placed back into the order in which the ballots were cast. Researchers say that information, combined with records showing when voters checked in, could potentially be used to identify how particular individuals voted.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence is now adding a new dimension to the concern.

Princeton University researcher Max Springer reportedly tested the vulnerability using a publicly available AI assistant and records from Georgia’s May primary. According to the AP, the AI system was able to help reverse the shuffling of electronic ballot records and, after being supplied with additional election records, narrow down and in many instances match voters with ballots.

That is particularly important in Georgia because the Georgia Constitution requires elections to be conducted by secret ballot. State election law also requires voting systems to allow voters to cast ballots in secrecy.

Ballot secrecy is intended not only to protect voter privacy but also to prevent practices such as vote buying and voter coercion. The Georgia Secretary of State’s own election guidance notes that voters are prohibited from photographing their ballots in part because allowing someone to prove how they voted could facilitate vote buying.

Georgia election officials say they are taking steps to address the potential exposure.

The Secretary of State’s office has reportedly instructed county election officials to refer certain open-records requests to the state. Some information would then be redacted or withheld. The state is also working with a vendor to further scramble the original order of ballot images and cast-vote records before those records are released publicly.

A software update designed to address the vulnerability has been implemented in some other jurisdictions using the same voting equipment, but Georgia has not installed that update statewide. State officials have cited certification, funding and the amount of time required to deploy the update ahead of the November election.

The State Election Board considered a proposal in August that would have required the update to be installed before the November election, but the proposal was rejected. Some board members questioned whether the board had the authority to order the Secretary of State to implement it and expressed concern about attempting a major system change so close to an election.

Election-security advocates argue that restricting access to public records is not the best long-term solution and say the underlying system should be changed so that records cannot be used to trace a ballot back to an individual voter.

The issue comes as Chattooga County voters and voters across Georgia prepare for the November 3, 2026 General Election.

Again, researchers and election officials emphasize that the vulnerability being discussed does not provide a means to change someone’s vote or manipulate the vote count. The concern is whether records generated by the system could be combined in a way that compromises the secrecy of an individual voter’s ballot.