Election measures capsize on the final day of Georgia’s 2026 legislative session

by Maya Homan, Georgia Recorder, [This article first appeared in the Georgia Recorder, republished with permission]

April 3, 2026

In an unexpected twist, members of the House and Senate concluded the 2026 legislative session without ending their longstanding stalemate over election policy, as Georgia hurtles toward the deadline for removing QR codes from voters’ ballots without a clear solution in sight.

The lack of a solution has some lawmakers calling on Gov. Brian Kemp to convene a special session to give them another shot at passing an elections bill this year.

On the final legislative day, House lawmakers passed Senate Bill 214, a measure that would postpone lawmakers’ self-imposed deadline for removing QR codes from ballots until 2028 and direct the state to begin the process of procuring a new election system this upcoming February. 

But the bill never made it across the finish line in the Senate, which adjourned shortly after 1 a.m. without taking up the measure. Since the 2026 session was also the end of the biennium, all bills must be refiled next year and start the legislative process over.

Sylvania Republican Sen. Max Burns, who had previously voiced his support for the bill, said he was hopeful that lawmakers would be able to find a solution.

“We’ll have to work through the process now,” he said after the Legislature adjourned. “We’ve got to figure out what the next options are, and there’s still some options.”

But Senate Majority Leader Jason Anavitarte, a Dallas Republican, did not offer much insight into what lawmakers’ next steps on the matter could be.

“We’ll see after tonight,” he told reporters shortly after the Senate adjourned. “We’ll see over the next hours and days.”

The bill was needed, advocates said, to ensure the state was in compliance with a 2024 law banning QR codes from being used to tally ballots starting this July. Since the law was passed, legislators have failed to appropriate the funds necessary to make the switch, and election officials have repeatedly cautioned that removing QR codes from Georgians’ ballots this year would likely be impossible to implement. 

Senate Minority Whip Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, said that she was expecting lawsuits over the Legislature’s failure to act on the issue of QR codes.

“I think it’s a disservice to taxpayers, because we’re gonna have to pay for all those lawsuits,” she said. “I really think it’s a disservice to our counties, because I got a feeling our county governments are going to foot the bill for those lawsuits.”

Rep. Saira Draper, an Atlanta Democrat who advocated for the passage of SB 214, expressed disappointment with the Senate for failing to take up the measure.

“We all knew what we had to do this term to make sure that we were not out of compliance with the law,” she said. “The House did what it had to do and the Senate failed to do so. It’s very disappointing.”

Draper also said that the governor will likely need to call a special session on elections policy in order to avoid lawsuits later this year.

House Speaker Jon Burns, a Newington Republican, also left the possibility of a special session open.

“It’s been a long day, and so I’m going to contemplate a lot of things,” Burns told reporters shortly after the House adjourned. “I think we left a couple things out there that are a little troubling, but we’re going to deal with that. I think we’ll continue to have a good plan moving forward, working to ensure that we do what’s best for the people of our state.”

Other election bills, such as a controversial proposal from the Senate to institute hand-marked paper ballots statewide ahead of the general election in November and a measure that would ban ranked-choice voting and withdraw Georgia from a multistate voter accuracy partnership, never made it to the House floor for a vote.

Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jill Nolin for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com.