Republicans advance bill to remove QR codes from Georgia ballots

Georgia Republican senators, in a party-line vote, advanced legislation that would scrub bar codes off ballots.

Under Senate Bill 189, ballot scanners would count votes directly from the ballot text or a machine mark, such as a computer-printed oval filled in with voters’ choices. The text or bubbles would become the official vote rather than the QR code.

It’s unlikely that the change could be made in time for this year’s presidential election.

Supporters of the bill said it would improve election security by reducing the risk of hacks or tampering that could flip votes. There’s no indication that Georgia’s voting machines have been breached during an election, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly said the state’s voting system is secure without the change.

Under Georgia’s system, using technology manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, in-person voters fill out their ballots on touchscreens, which are attached to printers that create a paper ballot. The ballot displays voters’ choices in text alongside QR codes that are counted by scanning machines.

Democrats said the proposal would be expensive.

The cost of technology changes needed under the proposed system starts at $15 million — possibly growing much higher — to pay for thousands of new ballot printers and election computers across the state. So far, lawmakers haven’t appropriated money in the state budget for replacement election equipment, although the proposed state budget includes $5 million for technology to audit and verify elections without using QR codes.