GEORGIA — Local election officials are voicing concern after the State Election Board urges counties to gear up for the possibility of using paper ballots for the first time in more than twenty-five years in November.
Switching to paper ballots between the July 1 deadline to remove QR codes and the November election is not realistic according to Joseph Kirk, President of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials. Beyond logistics, he says counties can’t make that change on their own.
“That is a choice for the legislature, for the Secretary of State, and potentially the court system- I hope that’s not how this goes,” said Kirk.
Kirk says the uncertainty about the election procedure is not fair to counties around the state. He says it is up to state lawmakers or the courts to set the guidelines.
“It takes somebody at the state level or someone in the Judiciary to make that judgement call,” he said.
Kirk believes that sweeping changes in an election year will only cause problems but he is hopeful there will be a solution soon.
This is all tied to a July 1 deadline for QR codes to be removed from ballots. State lawmakers put that deadline in place citing a need for more oversight. Rather than relying on a code that only a computer can read, supporters argue marks or text on a ballot can be easily reviewed by human eyes.
WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.
