January 13, 2026

An Open Letter To the Georgia State Senate and House of Representatives:

Georgia stands at a crossroads. Under state law, and thanks to the leadership of both chambers, QR codes must be removed from our ballots by July 1, 2026. The 2026 legislative session is the last realistic opportunity to address this issue clearly and decisively. This session must produce a clear, funded, and fully operational solution with enforceable milestones by the November 2026 general elections, or Georgia risks failing both ballot security and voter confidence on an issue that now enjoys growing bipartisan concern. 

QR Codes: Not Just a Technicality

Voting systems that rely on ballot-marking devices (BMDs) and automatically generate machine-readable QR or barcodes raise a fundamental transparency concern. Under current statewide practice, tabulation relies on machine-readable codes that voters cannot independently verify, even though human-readable text is printed for review. Critics argue that this two-layer design undermines the principle of a fully voter-verifiable ballot.

Security researchers and computer scientists have documented plausible attack vectors in such systems — through malicious software, elevated access modes on touchscreen machines, or discrepancies between what is printed and what is ultimately scanned — and their reports and legal testimony underscore the importance of systems voters can directly verify.

For that reason, Georgia must transition to fully human-verifiable ballots, supported by strong audits and a robust paper trail, while preserving accessible voting options for voters who need assistance.

An Unfunded Mandate Is Not a Plan

In the 2025 Legislative Session, Senate Bill 189 established a mandate to eliminate QR-code ballots by July 1, 2026. However, no funding was identified to carry out that mandate, creating the uncertainty Georgia now faces.

As a result, voters across Georgia head toward the 2026 midterms with the same QR-code ballots and voting technology that has contributed to public distrust and recurring controversy. The General Assembly has the opportunity and the responsibility to address this in totality during the 2026 session, even if that requires giving election officials additional time to prepare for a new system to be in place by the general elections.

No Half-Measures or Unfunded Mandates

At Greater Georgia, we will advocate this session for three non-negotiables:

1. A Realistic Timeline and Full Funding
Removing QR codes statewide will require financing new ballot-printing, tabulation equipment, testing, training, and implementation. While cost estimates vary, any plan passed in 2026 that lacks full funding, a procurement pathway, and a firm installation timeline invites confusion, risk, and failure.

2. Human-Readable Ballots and Transparency
Ballots must be marked or printed in a way voters can read and verify before casting—and counted based on what voters can verify. Systems that rely on barcodes for tabulation place undue trust in machine interpretation and do not resolve the underlying transparency concern. 

3. Proper Time for Election Officials to Prepare and Implement
Election officials must be given sufficient time and resources to implement a new system competently, though that necessity cannot become a pretext for indefinite delay. Well-run elections are the foundation of trusted election processes.

Georgia Must Choose: Action or Inaction

As citizens, watchdogs, and advocates for secure and transparent elections, we cannot accept vague promises or unfunded mandates. The law requires the removal of QR codes. Georgia’s voters deserve clarity, accountability, and certainty.

If the deadline must move, it should do so only with full funding, a procurement plan, and enforceable milestones before the midterm elections in 2026. We are grateful for the General Assembly’s responsiveness and leadership on this issue and look forward to collaborating to find sensible solutions that will make Georgia’s elections stronger in 2026 and beyond.

No shortcuts. No unfunded mandates. Get it done, and get it done right, in the 2026 legislative session.