Georgia seems poised to switch to a hand-marked paper ballot system for the 2028 election, but researchers and cybersecurity experts say there is a lot more to consider to ensure that voting stays secure and free from undue influence.
Election security concerns have long been at the forefront of the conversation around election equipment. Georgia’s current voting machines, which use a QR code to tally votes, have repeatedly faced criticism from advocates of hand-marked paper ballots, who say that ballots should be counted based on text that can be deciphered by humans.
State lawmakers have passed legislation to phase out the use of QR codes on ballots, but are still developing the guidelines that state lawmakers will use when selecting their next statewide voting system.
Sen. Max Burns, a Sylvania Republican who is co-chairing a special committee tasked with helping select Georgia’s next statewide election system, said he is hoping to land on a system that is as secure as possible, while maintaining the convenience that he said Georgia voters have come to expect.
“100% [security] is a goal,” he said. “We have to get as close to that as we can, and then we have to build other processes and mitigation opportunities around it to ensure that we address any potential challenges that we find.”