A last-minute change to Georgia's ballot QR code bill could steer voting in a new direction

Georgia’s ballot QR code crisis is resolved for now, but a late change to an elections bill passed during last month’s special session adds a new twist to the question of how future elections across the state will be run.

Under a state law passed in 2024, Georgia could no longer use QR codes to count ballots after July 1, but state lawmakers repeatedly failed to appropriate the funds needed to make the switch ahead of the self-imposed deadline. The question of how to count votes had threatened to destabilize the state’s midterm elections.

The updated bill, which allows the state to continue using QR codes to tally votes until 2028, mandates additional post-election audits on certain statewide contests and establishes a special committee to help select the state’s next voting system, has been signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.

A last-minute amendment from Covington Rep. Tim Fleming, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, also instructs the special committee to narrow their focus to hand-marked paper ballot systems, which would represent a shift away from Georgia’s current system that uses voting machines to mark ballots.



https://georgiarecorder.com/2026/07/06/a-last-minute-change-to-georgias-ballot-qr-code-bill-could-steer-voting-in-a-new-direction/