Georgia Passes Election Bill Delaying QR Code Ban to 2028

Georgia's General Assembly passed a revised election bill Tuesday, resolving a rapidly approaching deadline that would have banned the state's current ballot-counting system before a replacement was in place.

The bill now heads to Governor Brian Kemp for his signature.

The Deadline That Forced the Special Session

Two years ago, Georgia passed a law prohibiting QR codes from being used to tabulate ballots, setting a deadline of July 1, 2026. The legislation was intended to force a transition to a more transparent counting method.

The problem: Georgia never decided what would replace QR codes.

With the deadline weeks away and the state's November midterm elections approaching, Kemp called a special session. SB-3EX, as originally drafted, resolved the impasse by pushing the QR code ban deadline back to January 1, 2028, buying time for the state to identify and adopt a replacement system. According to WABE's coverage of the legislative debate, the bill then acquired an amendment that generated far more controversy than the deadline extension itself.

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The Hand Recount Fight

The Georgia Senate, during the weekend session, added a provision requiring a hand recount of the top two races in every Georgia election before certification.

House members pushed back sharply on Monday, citing cost and logistics.

State Rep. Shea Roberts told the committee that Fulton County alone estimated a hand recount would cost $500,000 per race — $1 million total for both recounted races in a single election. Todd Edwards of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, which represents county governments, appeared before the committee to ask that the hand recount provision be removed entirely due to cost and timeline concerns. A 2018 MIT study found that optical scanners were more accurate than hand counting ballots — a finding Democratic Rep. Phil Olaleye cited directly in challenging the provision's premise.

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What the Final Bill Actually Does

The House committee rewrote the hand recount provision before passing the amended bill.

Under the final version, a hand recount is now triggered only when a top-two-race result falls within a 0.5% margin — and only after, not before, election certification. State Sen. Max Burns confirmed the 0.5% threshold. State Rep. Rob Leverett described the rewrite as an attempt to fit the original intent within "existing statutory structures" in a "more manageable, workable form."

The House passed the amended version 94-79. It was sent back to the Senate, which passed it 36-16. The legislature then adjourned the special session. What the amended bill avoids is significant: without any resolution to the July 1 QR code deadline, Georgia counties would almost certainly have had to hand-count all ballots in the November midterms, per AP reporting on the legislative debate.

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What Democrats Said

Democrats who opposed the bill argued that hand counts were less accurate than machine counts and that the recount provision was an unrelated addition to what should have been a narrow technical fix.

The final bill passed with 94 of 180 House members — a five-vote margin — and 36 of 56 senators. Most Democrats voted against.

Georgia is now scheduled to continue using QR-code ballot tabulation through 2028, with hand recounts triggered only in close races after certification. The search for a permanent replacement counting system — the question the original 2024 law was designed to force — remains unresolved.

Key Takeaways

• Georgia's SB-3EX passed both chambers Tuesday and now goes to Governor Brian Kemp for signature.

• The bill pushes the QR code ballot tabulation ban from July 1, 2026 to January 1, 2028.

• A hand recount provision was scaled back from all elections to only races within a 0.5% margin, triggered after certification.

• The House passed the amended bill 94-79; the Senate passed it 36-16.

• Without the bill, Georgia counties would likely have faced mandatory hand-counting for November midterm elections.

• The question of what replaces QR codes permanently after 2028 remains unresolved.

Sources

• WABE — Proposal to Hand Recount Georgia Ballots Would Lead to Inaccurate, Delayed Elections, Opponents Say

• AP via ABC News — Georgia Democrats Blast Requirement to Recount Votes by Hand

• 11Alive — Georgia Legislature Passes Election Bill

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