ATLANTA – Georgia’s secretary of state said Friday that he will hire auditing firm Ernst & Young to review the entire office, days after a lawsuit revealed that news media and political parties had received the Social Security numbers and other personal information about Georgia’s 6 million voters.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp made the announcement in a statement that also provided more detail about how the release occurred while reiterating his confidence that voters’ information is secure.
“Human error led to this information being shared with media and political parties,” Kemp said. “All 12 discs have been recovered or confirmed they were destroyed by the recipients. I am confident that all voter information is secure and safe.”
Kemp issued a required legal notice on the agency’s website on Thursday that included fraud prevention tips. The state didn’t offer to pay for credit monitoring or other steps to prevent identity theft, however, as Georgia Democrats and cybersecurity experts continued to question whether voters’ information remains secure.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp“They didn’t even get all the physical copies,” said Rep. David Wilkerson of Powder Springs. “They’re counting on people saying they didn’t use or download them.”