Georgia QR-code – Georgia lawmakers return for a special session expected to address how votes are tallied after a deadline tied to QR codes looms. Conflicting state guidance has left county election officials weighing what to do for next month’s special election.
ATLANTA—By the time Georgia lawmakers return to the Capitol for a special session this week, the state’s election problem won’t be abstract anymore. It will be on the clock, bound up with a July 1 deadline and a special election scheduled just weeks later.
Georgia’s system relies on a QR code printed on ballots to tally votes. Two years ago, legislators passed a law barring the use of that barcode for the “official vote count” beyond July 1 of this year. But no replacement method for tabulating votes has been implemented.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who called the session, laid out an instruction for lawmakers to “address issues created” by the QR-code law. Yet the secretary of state’s office and the State Election Board have issued conflicting guidance to county election officials about how votes should be cast and counted—guidance that could shape procedures right up to ballot processing.
If the conflict isn’t resolved soon, Georgia officials warn there could be confusion and possibly litigation over state elections after July 1, with a special election to fill a U.S. House seat scheduled for that month.
The mess traces back to distrust and technology disputes that followed the 2020 election. Georgia’s current election system was first used statewide during the 2020 primary. After the general election—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 kept returning to touchscreen voting machines, with some loyalists pushing conspiracy theories. Election integrity advocates also criticized the machines. arguing they are vulnerable to hacking and that voters can’t be sure their selections are accurately reflected because people can’t read QR codes.
In 2024. Republican lawmakers tried to respond to those concerns by passing a law banning barcodes for the “official tabulation count” after July 1. 2026. In the two years since. neither the secretary of state’s office nor the General Assembly has taken action to comply with the requirement. Now the deadline is approaching quickly, and a major midterm election is on the horizon.
The situation also carried over into Trump’s second term. Trump singled out the machines in his first executive order on elections shortly after taking office in January 2025. That order was blocked by multiple courts and is not being enforced.
Kemp steps in last month with a special session. scheduled to begin Wednesday. to draw new congressional maps for the 2028 elections and to address the QR-code issue. One possibility is that lawmakers could extend the deadline in the law to allow QR codes to be used for now. buying time to develop a new method before 2028. But during the waning hours of the regular legislative session earlier this year. lawmakers rejected a proposal that would have extended the deadline.
Even if lawmakers reach agreement, implementing it before the special election could be difficult. The special election to fill the remainder of the term of U.S. Rep. David Scott—who died in April—is set for July 28. Early voting begins July 6.
The secretary of state offers a two-step plan for the six counties in the congressional district that will vote in the special election. Last week. the secretary of state’s office issued guidance to election officials. saying it is preliminary and could change based on what happens in the special session.
Under that guidance. ballots will be run through scanners that read the QR code to generate the election night vote count. Before county certification. electronic images created by the scanners for each ballot would be uploaded to a server. where optical character recognition software would tally votes using the human-readable text. That second process would produce the official tabulation count.
The secretary of state’s guidance also makes clear that counties must continue using the current election system, including the touchscreen voting machines. It states that nothing in the law authorizes the use of hand-marked paper ballots for in-person voting.
Two days later, the State Election Board issued guidance that cuts against that plan. Board members argued that the approach described by the secretary of state is not authorized by law.
The board passed a resolution directing counties on what to do if the special legislative session does not result in an extension of the QR-code deadline. In that scenario. counties would use an emergency backup plan that calls for hand-marked paper ballots. with scanners used to count voters’ selections.
During the election board meeting. Elizabeth Young. a lawyer with the state attorney general’s office. acknowledged the risk of conflicting instructions. While she said the guidance is not binding. she added that “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 conflict isn’t happening in a vacuum. 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 frequently targeted by Trump.
County officials—caught between state agencies—now face the practical question of what to tell voters and how to prepare for ballot processing.
In Henry County in Atlanta’s suburbs. Axiver Harris. the interim elections director. said the county is aware of the conflicting guidance and is waiting for 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. ” Harris wrote in an email.
Marcye Scott. one of six candidates running for the special election to serve the remainder of her late father’s term. said she is focused on getting voters to the polls and is not concentrating on the technical dispute. “My goal is to get people to the polls. get my people to the polls and get them to vote for me. ” she said.
Carlos Moore, another candidate in the race, took a different tone. He said he is worried about legal challenges if a new method of vote-counting is implemented without enough time to prepare. He said he hopes lawmakers extend the deadline to allow QR codes to be used for now.
“I would ask that legislators do the right thing, leave well enough alone for the special election,” Moore said. “Otherwise, it’s almost certain there will be challenges in court.”
The core tension now sits in plain view: Georgia has a QR-code system built into ballot processing. a law that restricts using those barcodes for the official count beyond July 1. and two state agencies steering counties down different paths—at the same moment the state is preparing for a high-stakes special election scheduled for July 28. with early voting beginning July 6.
Georgia election QR code ballots vote counting Brian Kemp special session State Election Board secretary of state Brad Raffensperger Henry County David Scott July 28 special election