ATLANTA — Georgia lawmakers will convene at the Capitol this week for a special legislative session to address issues created by a 2024 law that banned ballot QR codes for official vote counts after July 1, 2026. State officials have not implemented a replacement vote tabulation method.

The state's current election system relies on QR codes printed on ballots to tally votes. Georgia first used this system statewide during the 2020 primary election. Following the 2020 general election, election integrity advocates noted that voters cannot independently verify QR code selections because they cannot read them. The special legislative session will also draw new congressional maps for 2028.

Conflicting guidance has been issued to county election officials by the Georgia secretary of state's office and the State Election Board regarding vote casting and counting procedures. Gov. Brian Kemp said the session aims to "Address issues created by the QR code ban law."

The office issued guidance requiring scanners in six counties to read QR codes for the initial election night vote count. This guidance also requires scanner-generated electronic ballot images to be uploaded to a server for optical character recognition software to tally votes using human-readable text before certification. The guidance designates this optical character recognition tally as the official tabulation count.

However, the State Election Board said the secretary's vote-counting plan is not authorized by law. The board passed a resolution directing counties to use hand-marked paper ballots and scanners as an emergency backup if the legislative deadline for QR codes is not extended. Lawmakers rejected a proposal earlier this year that would have extended the QR code ban deadline.

U.S. Rep. David Scott died in April. A special election to fill the remainder of his term is scheduled for July 28, with early voting beginning July 6. Carlos Moore, a candidate for Scott's former seat, suggested legislators should not alter election procedures for this election. Moore said, "I would ask that legislators do the right thing, leave well enough alone for the special election. Otherwise, it's almost certain there will be challenges in court."

Elizabeth Young, a lawyer with the state attorney general's office, addressed the potential for confusion among election superintendents. Young said, "Obviously it would cause confusion for elections superintendents if they are getting differing instructions from two agencies, both of which have some authority over what they're doing."