Georgia Faces Tight Deadline for Transition to Paper Ballots Amid Legislative Inaction
Georgia election officials are under pressure to transition the state's voting system from touchscreen machines to paper ballots within three months. This urgency follows the state Senate's failure to vote on a bill that would have postponed the switch until 2028. The current system, which uses touchscreen machines to generate QR codes for ballot counting, is set to be phased out by July 1, 2026, as per a decision by GOP state lawmakers. The proposed change to hand-marked ballots has raised concerns among local election officials about potential election security risks, complications in ballot counting, and delays in reporting results. Despite a bipartisan bill passed by the state House to allow a two-year grace period for the transition, the Senate, led by Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, did not bring it to a vote. This leaves election officials with a tight timeline to implement the new system, which includes pre-printing millions of ballots and retraining election workers. 
