Last week, the Secretary of State's Election Division hosted the 2023 SOS Training Conference on Elections Systems in Athens, GA. Election officials from 159 counties met for two and a half days of interactive, high-level training on Georgia's Voter Registration and Information System, or GARViS. GARViS will replace Georgia's current voter registration system, eNET, in time for the 2024 Presidential election cycle. See how local election officials are reacting here.

Breakout sessions were conducted giving officials an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking, sharing standard operating procedures, hands-on training, and more. During each training session, attendees were recognized via video & in-person messages from guest speakers nationwide, making note that Georgia elections lead the nation. Guest speakers included U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks, Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia Gary Black, State Election Board Chairman Hon. William Duffey, Chris Harvey, Deputy Director of the Georgia Peace Officers and Training Council, and Nick D’Andrea, Vice President of State Government Affairs at UPS. Video recognition was also sent by nearly a dozen business and civic leaders from across the state of Georgia, including Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer, UPS CEO Carol Tome, Atlanta Hawks Owner Tony Restler, and many more. Each speaker echoed the theme of the conference, “Georgia Leads… the nation!”

"This conference and the launch of a new Voter Registration and Information System brought county officials from across the state together, under one roof," said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. "Hands down, Georgia's election directors are among the best our nation has to offer. The stand-out performance of these officials are why we proudly themed the conference with the slogan, ‘Georgia Leads… the nation!’"

The 2023 Kickoff Dinner was held on Wednesday evening as a courtesy event hosted by the Secretary of State’s Office. This dinner was a chance to celebrate the excellence of Georgia’s election workers, and specifically honor several county election offices who have demonstrated excellence in leading Georgia elections over the past year. They were recognized for their leadership with several awards given by the Elections Division Staff. Governor Nathan Deal spoke to attendees and praised them for their work.

The conference ended with a robust Q&A session where attendees shared takeaways of the two-and-a-half-day conference, highlighting the anticipation as county election offices transition to GARViS. Datahub, new Check-in Devices, upgraded batteries, and the rollout of GARViS are among a number of technological innovations launched by the Secretary of State's office in recent elections, and were just a few of several statewide improvements discussed at this conference.

Georgia has been recognized as the #1 state for Election Integrity by the Heritage Foundation, as well as achieving a top ranking for voter convenience by the Center for Election Innovation & Research, yet again endorsing the theme of this year’s conference, “Georgia Leads.. the nation!”