State Senate Republicans made a surprise addition to an elections bill moving through Georgia’s legislative special session over the weekend: a requirement for manual hand counts of ballots before elections can be certified.
The main ballot-related problem lawmakers are working to solve in this session is the use of QR codes on ballots. Currently, there’s a deadline to stop using them to count votes this summer, but no new system is in place. Lawmakers were called back to the Capitol this month to resolve that.
On Saturday, Senate Republicans amended a bill that would push the deadline back to 2028 to include hand recounts as well. Hand counts would be required for the top two races on the ballot before an election can be certified. This November, that would be the races for governor and U.S. Senate.
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