Georgia delays voting system overhaul until 2028, keeps QR code ballots

Georgia lawmakers voted to keep the state’s QR-code ballot tabulation system in place through the 2026 midterm elections and delay a replacement until Jan. 1, 2028, a last-minute move that avoided a July 1 compliance deadline but left major questions about security, certification and county readiness. The change came days before the state was set to fall out of compliance with election code adopted in 2024.

The legislation moved through a special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp, and Kemp said lawmakers needed to act in part because of the looming deadline. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told lawmakers that replacing the equipment would cost about $66 million, a price tag that helped stall the earlier ban on counting ballots by QR code even after the General Assembly approved it two years ago without setting aside the money to switch systems.

Georgia’s current system uses ballot-marking devices that print a paper ballot with both readable text and a QR code, and election equipment scans the code for the official count. There was not enough time to change systems before the midterms without risking confusion at polling places. Voters cannot independently verify what is encoded in the QR code, leaving a gap between what voters see and what machines count.

The final bill, sponsored by Sen. Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania, went further than a simple extension. It created a special committee to recommend a future voting system and ordered additional post-election audits in some statewide contests. It also scaled back an earlier version that would have required broader hand counts of the top two races on every ballot, narrowing recounts to certain statewide races and only under limited conditions.

The Senate advanced the measure on a party-line vote after weeks of uncertainty and a contentious debate. Senate Democrats opposed the hand-count requirement, warning it could slow certification in larger counties and add fuel to election-denial claims. County election administrators warned that the deadline fight itself could create confusion before upcoming elections.