Georgia Republicans move to keep touchscreen voting to head off election mess

Problems with the state’s ballot counting led Gov. Brian Kemp to call state lawmakers to return to the state Capitol for a special session on Wednesday to avoid possible legal challenges to the midterm election results in Georgia.

In 2024, the Republican-controlled General Assembly set a July 2026 deadline to remove barcodes from the state’s ballots. The move came after years of headlines about the touchscreen voting system’s vulnerabilities and conspiracy theories in the wake of Trump’s narrow 2020 loss. Critics of the barcodes say they can’t verify that their votes were accurately tallied.

But lawmakers wrapped up their regular session earlier this year without addressing the change. That left open the question of whether ballots with QR codes cast this fall would be legal.

The bill delaying the ban on QR code vote counting until January 2028 came with the backing of Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and Senate leadership.

It would also set up a committee tasked with issuing recommendations by Jan. 31, 2027, for “specifications, standards, and requirements” for the state’s next voting system.

Senate Democrats have supported the delay, but on Saturday they attempted to stonewall the legislation over the lack of Democratic representation.

They accused Republicans of ignoring Democrats by not allowing them to have a voice in selecting members of the new committee.

“You’ve created a process where how we vote in the future will be determined by only one party,” state Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, said.

The proposal now heads to the House, where lawmakers could take out provisions calling for hand recounts.

Credit: Estela Muñoz/AJC

Credit: Estela Muñoz/AJC

‘Hurtling toward a cliff’

The delay may appear generous at first glance, but implementing a statewide system by the 2028 presidential cycle would make for a busy 2027 for legislators and election officials.

Lawmakers would be in the 2027 session when a report recommending requirements for a new system is due — the first step in what’s likely to be a monthslong process that requires passing legislation, allocating money and putting a statewide contract out for bid. That doesn’t include deploying the system and training election workers.

Asked in an interview whether the bill gives ample time for implementation, state Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, said “you’d always want more time.”

“We’re hopeful that we will have a secretary of state who will work in partnership with the Legislature, and in partnership with the State Election Board, and in partnership with the governor to make this happen in a timely manner,” he added.

Credit: Estela Muñoz/AJC

Credit: Estela Muñoz/AJC

Local election officials have been left in limbo about how this year’s midterms will be administered since April. Adding to the confusion, the Secretary of State’s Office and the State Election Board have offered counties running a July special election conflicting guidance on how to tally votes if the delay faces the same fate as it did during a 40-day legislative session.

Whether counties would follow the direction of the board or the secretary, the matter is expected to land in court.

“We’re quickly hurtling toward a cliff that only the General Assembly can help us avoid,” wrote Bartow County Elections Director Joseph Kirk in an op-ed for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

After Trump’s defeat, he and his supporters pushed a slew of conspiracy theories about the machines. Other critics of the voting system say it could be tampered with or hacked, which could change results. Election officials have defended the system as secure, saying such vulnerabilities couldn’t be exploited during an election.