Georgia lawmakers punt fight over voting machines to 2028

But it does little to quell concerns among longtime election security advocates over the system’s documented vulnerabilities or the fraud fears Trump and his allies have built on false claims about the 2020 election in a state that plays a pivotal role in the control of Congress.

Trump has never conceded that he lost the 2020 presidential election. In January, his administration seized Fulton County’s 2020 ballots as part of a murky criminal investigation into 2020 election “irregularities.” And Trump told The New York Times earlier this year that he regretted not sending in the National Guard to seize Georgia’s voting machines — machines that will still be in use this year.

Georgia voters cast ballots by using a touchscreen computer, which spits out a paper ballot with a QR code and human-readable text. Machines read that QR code to count votes. State officials read the text on ballot images to verify the results and manually audit samples of ballots by hand. No evidence shows security flaws have been exploited to alter election results, election officials say.

But critics say they can’t verify their votes were accurately tallied because they can’t read the QR code.

That’s why the Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law two years ago banning Georgia from using QR codes to count ballots. That law was supposed to take effect July 1. This week, lawmakers delayed that law until Jan. 1, 2028.

They also changed that law, creating a nine-person committee to come up with standards and specification recommendations for a new voting system that is based on “hand-marked paper ballots.”

But they did not change a part of that law mandating that an official vote is the “text portion of a paper ballot marked and printed by” electronic voting machines.

That has prompted some election security advocates who oppose Georgia’s touchscreen voting system to argue lawmakers have made sure the next statewide system will be touchscreens.

“This bill creates the illusion of an open equipment search while preserving a predetermined outcome,” said Marilyn Marks, the executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, an organization that advocates for paper ballots.

State Rep. Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia, rejected that. He said the only thing the law references is how votes are tabulated, not how voters select candidates.

The committee will include members appointed by Kemp, House Speaker Jon Burns and the Senate Committee on Assignments. Kemp and Burns are Republicans, and the Senate Committee is controlled by Republicans.

But replacing that system will be a significant undertaking, requiring passing legislation, allocating money and putting a lucrative statewide contract out for bid by next year. Then, state officials will need time to deploy the system and train election workers.

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Kemp is leaving office early next year, prevented from running for reelection by term limits. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who has clashed with Trump over Georgia’s 2020 election, is also leaving office after losing the GOP primary for governor. And multiple state legislative seats will likely turn over following the fall elections.

That means the final decision on Georgia’s voting system will be up to a slate of new leaders. Georgia’s secretary of state is the chief elections officer responsible for certifying the next statewide voting system.

State Rep. Tim Fleming, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, has already signaled his support for a hand-marked system. The Democratic nominee, Penny Brown Reynolds, has said she supports “printable, verifiable ballots.”