ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate passed a measure Saturday that would delay a prohibition on the use of QR codes to tally votes until 2028 and also require hand-counting of the two top races on ballots.
Democrats opposed the measure, in part because they would not have an automatic seat at the table on the committee that will set the standards for new voting machines.
The current machines, which rely on QR-code tallies, will become illegal July 1 under a law passed by the Legislature two years ago.
In the meantime, lawmakers failed to adopt or pay for an alternative system, creating an emergency that led Gov. Brian Kemp to call them back to the Capitol for a special session.
Senate Bill 3EX passed the Senate 33-19, after Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, the majority leader, said, “We’re going to continue to stand with the citizens of Georgia, every citizen, no matter where they’re from, no matter what their walk of life is, no matter their view of election integrity or otherwise.”
Lawmakers had approved removing QR codes from Georgia’s election procedures after backlash following President Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election and mistrust among some in the way the state conducts elections.
“They are grappling with the reality that they are going to be forced to toe the MAGA line on elections for the rest of time,” Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said of his GOP colleagues after the vote. “They’re going to litigate this 2020 election over and over again.”
The bill would establish a nine-member legislative committee to set the specifications, standards and requirements for a new voting system. Members would be appointed by the governor and by legislative leaders, currently all Republicans.
Democrats wanted their own appointments, though Republicans noted that GOP leadership has traditionally appointed Democrats to such study committees.
On the Senate floor Saturday, Republicans added an amendment that would require hand counts of votes in the two races atop a ballot before official certification of the results.
That would require a hand count of presidential and gubernatorial elections, which do not occur in the same cycle, plus another race, usually for U.S. Senate.
Garland Favorito, a vocal critic of Georgia’s digital voting process, said the hand-count mandate would be a first in the state’s history of electronic voting.
“It’s not a perfect solution,” said the co-founder of VoterGA, “but it’s a step in the right direction.”