The Georgia Senate voted along party lines Tuesdayto abandon the use of bar codes on ballots. Instead, ballots would be counted from the printed text or filled-in ovals next to candidate names.
Republicans supporting the bill said it would improve election security and reduce 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.
It’s unlikely that the change could be made in time for this year’s presidential election.
“The biggest challenge that a voter has is knowing that their vote was correctly recorded,” said Sen. Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania. “Let’s eliminate QR codes. Let’s make sure that electors can read the ballot and be clear about how they voted.”
Democrats critical of the proposal said it would be expensive and impractical to implement before this November’s presidential election.