Republicans have unveiled a sweeping proposal aimed at overhauling Georgia’s election system ahead of the 2028 presidential election, dealing a blow to conservative activists who had hoped to implement hand-marked paper ballots ahead of this year’s midterm elections. 

Senate Bill 214, introduced by Sylvania Republican Sen. Max Burns, would begin the process of switching from ballots that are counted using QR codes to ones that voters can mark by hand. It would also give the State Election Board, rather than the secretary of state’s office, new authority over election audits and direct the state to begin the process of procuring a new election system in February. It passed a House committee Tuesday.

Under a 2024 law, QR codes cannot be used to tally ballots starting this July, but lawmakers have so far failed to appropriate the funds necessary to make the switch. Election officials had long cautioned that they would struggle to switch election systems in time for November’s election, but Tuesday marked the first public acknowledgement from Republican legislators that removing QR codes from Georgians’ ballots this year would likely be impossible to implement.

Rep. Victor Anderson, a Cornelia Republican who is sponsoring the bill in the House, said lawmakers had hoped to be able to meet the July deadline for removing QR codes, but said logistical issues forced them to delay the plan.

“Unfortunately, as we began to work through that process,” he said, “we very quickly and very abruptly began to realize that the practicality of that happening without causing a severe upset in our election system, it just wasn’t gonna happen. It wasn’t possible.” 

Burns also expressed frustration with the delayed timeline, but said the changes will help ensure that the transition to a new voting system succeeds.

“While I’m disappointed that we could not implement this concept in a more timely manner, I support the delay of implementation to ensure that elections were done accurately, smoothly and appropriately,” Burns said.

Lawmakers weigh seismic changes to Georgia’s voting equipment

Under Georgia’s current system, voters select their choices on a ballot-marking device and print out a ballot, but the new equipment mandated under the bill would use specialized printers to produce a ballot that voters would mark by hand. Should the new bill take effect, local election officials would be able to start procuring new voting equipment after Feb. 1, 2027, and the machines would have to be fully implemented by the beginning of 2028.

The state’s ballot-marking devices were used statewide for the first time during the 2020 election.

Joseph Kirk, the Bartow County elections director and the president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, said the bill will offer clarity to local elections officials and allow them to comfortably roll out new voting equipment.

“Changing these kinds of systems isn’t like flipping a light switch,” he said. “It takes time to do it responsibly, and I think this bill gives the time we need to do it right.”

The 22-page measure also includes a provision from a bill introduced last year by Atlanta Democratic Rep. Saira Draper, which would allow parents of children two years old and younger to skip the line at polling places along with voters over the age of 75 and those with disabilities. 

Draper said she applauded the committee’s decision to incorporate feedback from election officials into the bill. But she criticized a portion of the bill that allows the State Election Board to launch a pilot program for auditing elections, arguing that the board “does not have the expertise or the resources required to conduct an audit.”

The bill now goes to the gatekeeping House Rules Committee, which decides which bills go to the full chamber for a vote. This year’s legislative session is set to end April 2.