Junking Georgia’s antiquated electronic voting machines in favor of an immediate return to paper ballots “would compromise Georgia’s 2018 election,” an attorney for Secretary of State Brian Kemp contended Tuesday.

In a sharply worded response to a motion filed by a Colorado-based coalition and Georgia voters asking a federal judge to order the state to convert to paper ballots before early voting begins in October, Kemp attorney John Salter challenged contentions that it can be accomplished easily, if at all. The requested conversion to paper ballots would require new equipment, software, significant poll worker training and additional funding, he argued.