Removing QR codes from Georgia ballots could cost taxpayers $66 million

Georgia lawmakers are deciding whether to spend as much as $66 million to remove computer QR codes from ballots or abandon the idea in favor of a $15 million software update.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asked a Senate budget committee Wednesday to consider the less expensive option for the state’s 6-year-old voting equipment, manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems.

“This change would help ensure continued voter confidence without drastically changing the voting system,” Raffensperger said. “There had been some reports that said if we could update the software, that any potential vulnerabilities could then be sealed.”

Raffensperger’s suggestion would require the General Assembly to reverse a law passed last year to eliminate QR codes, which contain voters’ choices but aren’t readable by the human eye. The law calls for ballot scanners to instead read either filled-in ovals or the printed text of voters’ choices by July 1, 2026.

His proposal revives a debate over Georgia’s voting technology, which has faced criticism about security weaknesses from election security advocates and Republican activists. Election officials say the system has never been hacked or tampered with during an election.

Raffensperger’s office estimated that removing QR codes would cost more than the $47 million proposed by Gov. Brian Kemp for the project in his budget recommendation, a figure which includes purchasing 33,000 new ballot printers.

“I was a little shocked by that change in direction,” state Sen. Clint Dixon, chair of the Senate Appropriations Government Operations Subcommittee, said of Raffensperger’s suggestion. “We’ve got some studying to do on that one.”