Georgia's Vote-Counting Method Banned  06/15 06:11

   

   ATLANTA (AP) -- When Georgia lawmakers return to the Capitol this week for a 
special session, they are expected to try to clean up an election mess of their 
own making.

   The election system used throughout the political battleground state relies 
on a QR code printed on ballots to tally the votes. Legislators passed a law 
two years ago barring the use of that barcode for the official vote count 
beyond July 1 of this year, but no replacement method of tabulating votes was 
ever implemented.

   One of the instructions Republican Gov. Brian Kemp laid out for lawmakers 
when he called the special session is to "address issues created" by that law. 
Meanwhile, the secretary of state's office and the State Election Board have 
further muddied the waters by issuing conflicting guidance for county election 
officials about how votes should be cast and counted.

   If the issues are not resolved soon, there is likely to be confusion and 
possibly litigation over the state's elections after July 1. A special election 
to fill a U.S. House seat is scheduled for that month.

   How did we get here?

   Georgia's current election system was first used statewide during the 2020 
primary. After the general election that year, when Republican President Donald 
Trump narrowly lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump and his supporters 
claimed without evidence that the machines had deleted or switched votes.

   Trump's backers continued to complain about the touchscreen voting machines, 
with some loyalists espousing wild conspiracy theories. Election integrity 
advocates also criticized the machines, saying they are vulnerable to hacking 
and that voters cannot be sure their selections are accurately reflected 
because people can't read QR codes.

   Republican lawmakers in 2024 tried to address those concerns by passing a 
law banning barcodes for the "official tabulation count" after July 1, 2026. 
But in the two years since, no other counting method has been adopted. Now, the 
deadline is fast approaching and a major midterm election looms.

   Trump singled out those machines, which are used in at least some counties 
in more than a dozen states, in his first executive order on elections shortly 
after he took office for his second term in January 2025. That order has been 
blocked by multiple courts and is not being enforced.

   The governor steps in

   Last month, Kemp announced a special legislative session, scheduled to start 
Wednesday, to draw new congressional maps for the 2028 elections and to address 
the QR code issue.

   It's possible that lawmakers could extend the deadline in the law to allow 
the QR codes to be used for now and give themselves some breathing room to come 
up with a new system before elections in 2028. But in the waning hours of the 
regular legislative session earlier this year, they rejected a proposal that 
would have done that.

   Even if lawmakers agree on a solution, it might be tough to implement before 
a special election to fill the remainder of the term of U.S. Rep. David Scott, 
who died in April. The special election is set for July 28, with early voting 
beginning July 6.

   Secretary of state offers guidance to election offices

   The secretary of state's office last week issued guidance to election 
officials in the six counties included in that congressional district. The 
office says it's preliminary and subject to change based on any developments 
from the special session.

   The ballots will be run through the scanners, which will read the QR code to 
generate the election night vote count. Then, before county certification, 
electronic images created by the scanners for each ballot will be uploaded to a 
server, where optical character recognition software will be used to tally the 
votes using the human-readable text. The results of that second process will be 
the official tabulation count.

   The secretary of state's guidance expressly says counties must continue to 
use the current election system, including the touchscreen voting machines, and 
that there is nothing in the law that authorizes the use of hand-marked paper 
ballots for in-person voting.

   Conflict with the election board

   The State Election Board weighed in two days later with conflicting 
guidance. Board members argued the plan proposed by the secretary of state is 
not authorized by law.

   The board passed a resolution instructing counties on what to do if the 
special legislative session does not result in an extension of the deadline for 
using QR codes. The resolution directs counties to use their emergency backup, 
which calls for hand-marked paper ballots with scanners used to count voters' 
selections.

   When asked about the conflicting guidance during the election board meeting, 
Elizabeth Young, a lawyer with the state attorney general's office, said that 
while the guidance is not binding, "obviously it would cause confusion for 
elections superintendents if they are getting differing instructions from two 
agencies, both of which have some authority over what they're doing."

   The election board has been controlled by a Trump-aligned majority and is 
often at odds with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who is a 
frequent Trump target.

   Local election officials are in the middle

   Henry County in Atlanta's suburbs is one of the counties where voters will 
go to the polls for next month's special election. Axiver Harris, interim 
elections director, said the county is aware of the conflicting guidance and is 
awaiting further clarification from the state.

   "Given the uncertainty surrounding the guidance currently available, we 
believe it is wise to wait for further direction to ensure that any decisions 
made are consistent with state requirements and election administration best 
practices," he wrote in an email.

   Marcye Scott, who is running in the special election to serve the remainder 
of her late father's term, said she is not sure most voters are even aware of 
the issue and is focusing her attention elsewhere.

   "My goal is to get people to the polls, get my people to the polls and get 
them to vote for me," she said.

   But Carlos Moore, another of the six candidates running in the special 
election, said he is worried about legal challenges if a new method of 
vote-counting is implemented without enough time. He hopes lawmakers extend the 
deadline to allow the use of the QR codes for now.

   "I would ask that legislators do the right thing, leave well enough alone 
for the special election," he said. "Otherwise, it's almost certain there will 
be challenges in court."