ATLANTA – According to a report by AJC, the fight over election integrity which led the gubernatorial race between Governor-elect Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams is about to fire back up.

State legislators plan to replace the state’s 27,000 electronic voting machines and review voting access laws.

The multimillion-dollar purchase of a more secure statewide voting system is at the top of the list for this year’s legislative session about to begin. Legislators generally agree that the state should start using paper ballots to replace the all-digital touchscreen system in place since 2002, but they strongly differ over what kind of paper-based system to buy.

Intense debates over voter disenfranchisement are also certain to arise. A bill has already been filed to curb mass voter registration cancellations, and other measures could address ballot cancellations, voting hours, early voting times, precinct closures and district boundaries.

But the state’s planned switch to paper ballots will command lawmakers’ attention after a federal judge wrote in a ruling in the fall that state election officials “had buried their heads in the sand” about the risk that the state’s voting system could be hacked.

The embittered battle over the integrity of the voting system undermines democracy, officials engaged in the battle assert.

Who will win this divisive contention will determine voting rights for generations to come.