ATHENS, Ga. — At a convention center in downtown Athens, the air buzzes with conversation. Vendors line the hallways, stickers and other merch scattered across tables. Projector screens display giant basketballs alongside the American flag.
It’s not March Madness. It’s the annual conference for the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials.
Sixty miles away at the state Capitol in Atlanta, lawmakers are mulling a proposal to overhaul Georgia’s election system ahead of the 2028 presidential election. But in a ballroom in Athens, hundreds of election workers charged with implementing the laws passed by the General Assembly are preparing to uphold Georgia’s election laws, whatever those laws may be.
Until the Legislature adjourns for the year, however, it’s not entirely clear what counties can expect. Under a 2024 law, QR codes cannot be used to tally ballots starting this July, but lawmakers have so far failed to appropriate the funds necessary to make the switch. A new measure unveiled last week would postpone any changes until 2027, but it has yet to come up for a vote in the House. One bill that would have made sweeping changes to the way Georgians vote ahead of this year’s general election failed on the floor of the Senate on Crossover Day, the mid-session deadline for bills to advance.
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