Georgia lawmakers closer to fixing election mess

The current Republican plan mandates hand recounts of the top two races on the ticket after each election, which prompted criticism from activists, Democratic lawmakers and local election officials on Monday. The proposal would delay a July 1 deadline banning the use of QR codes to count votes. The Legislature neglected to address the vote-counting problem during a 40-day legislative session earlier this year.

Some critics distrustful of the bar code vote counting say they can’t verify their vote is being accurately tabulated. For some conservative election activists, the addition of hand recounts makes the legislation more palatable. Garland Favorito, a conspiracy theorist critical of the outcome of the 2020 election, praised the hand counts passed by Senate Republicans on Saturday as “a historic nonpartisan amendment,” although Senate Democrats opposed it.

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

But the addition of hand counting could open the door for those who have long cast doubts on Georgia’s elections to use the time-consuming and error-prone process to question results before they’ve been fully tallied.

State Election Board Chair John Fervier told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the manual counts have “the potential to create massive problems in upcoming elections.” State Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta, told reporters that they would throw Georgia’s “elections into chaos.”

Hand counting two statewide races delays election results by days, if not weeks, for some counties, according to local election officials. Greene County Elections Director Rebecca Anglin said it took Greene three teams of people two days to hand-count 12,000 ballots in November 2024 for one race.

State Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, said the counts were aimed at strengthening the bill “so that the voters have confidence in elections in Georgia.”

Georgia already conducts manual audits of samples of ballots, which the bill expands the use of, as well as audits of ballot images after elections. If approved, some votes would be tallied or audited up to four times. The House did not take any action on such legislation, but lawmakers could nix the manual counts.

But the QR code deadline is just part of what lawmakers are trying to sort out. Since the special session convened Wednesday, more than 90 bills have been introduced to authorize local property tax referendums, most of them in the House.

If voters approved, counties and cities across Georgia would raise sales taxes by a penny, with the proceeds offsetting property taxes, but only on taxpayers’ primary residences. In metro Atlanta, bills have been introduced to authorize referendums in Gwinnett, Cherokee, Forsyth and Fayette counties. Republicans say the votes would grant needed relief for people struggling to keep up with rising property tax bills.

“These bills allow Georgians to go to the ballot box and make the decision,” state Rep. James Burchett, R-Waycross, told his House colleagues Monday.

Democrats blocked about 70 bills in the House and Senate on Saturday and continued to do so Monday. They say raising sales taxes would hurt low- and middle-income Georgians at the expense of renters, small businesses and other taxpayers.

“We should not be adding any new taxes during an affordability crisis,” state Rep. Ruwa Romman, D-Duluth, said.

The bills require two-thirds majorities in both chambers and cannot pass without substantial Democratic support.

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC

Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC