ATLANTA — The Georgia Senate approved an amendment requiring a hand recount of ballots for the two races at the top of the ballot. The amended bill passed the Georgia Senate on a party-line vote during a special legislative session called by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

Governor Kemp called lawmakers into a special session to address a July 1 deadline set to ban the QR codes used for the official vote count. State lawmakers had passed a law two years prior setting a July 1 deadline for banning QR code vote tabulation but had not found a replacement system. The Georgia Senate bill would extend this July 1 deadline for banning QR code vote tabulation to January 1, 2028.

The Georgia Senate bill would also create a committee tasked with recommending requirements for a new voting system. This committee would need to report its findings by January 31, 2027. State lawmakers would then be responsible for funding, buying, and implementing the new voting system for the 2028 election cycle.

Georgia Democrats opposed the legislation in the special session. State Representative Saira Draper said, "What we are experiencing is a Republican Senate who's acting extraordinarily irresponsibly with Georgia's elections and people's votes." Voters in Georgia will decide races for U.S. Senate and governor in the fall midterm elections.

Republican State Senator Max Burns defended the amendment. He said hand counts and machine counts can "coexist and confirm each other's ultimate results." Burns added, "This amendment to a good bill is to strengthen it so that the voters have confidence in election security." Georgia's current election system uses a QR code printed on ballots to tally votes. Research has shown that hand-counting is more prone to error, costlier, and likely to delay results.

The Georgia House of Representatives did not immediately schedule the bill for a vote on Monday. The special session had originally intended to redraw Georgia's congressional and legislative districts for the 2028 election, but state lawmakers postponed those plans.