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When WIRED asked Favorito if that was despite all the audits and investigations No evidence found Because of the fraud, he still believed the 2020 election was rigged using QR codes. “I think that’s a distinct possibility,” Favorito replied.
The Georgia bill did not specify which system should replace QR codes, but it set a deadline of July 1, 2026 to end the use of the codes. Efforts to deface QR codes were given additional impetus when Trump was in office in March 2025 He signed an executive order Require the Electoral Assistance Commission to approve new rules to prohibit vote counting via QR codes in most cases nationwide. The committee did not respond to a request for comment.
Since then, Georgia lawmakers have repeatedly failed to put in place a system to replace QR codes or modernize election systems. So, with only six months to go before the midterm elections, election administrators in counties across the state have remained in limbo, unsure of how to proceed or whether to put in place new rules.
When Cherokee County Elections Director Anne Dover was asked how midterm votes would be counted, she told WIRED: “Unfortunately, we don’t have an answer to that question.”
Some believe Gov. Brian Kemp will summon the Legislature for a special session specifically designed to address the issue. Kemp declined to comment, and spokesman Carter Chapman referred WIRED to a statement he made in early April after the Legislature ended without a new system in place, which the office said they were working on.
Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, also declined to comment on how to fix the situation, but office spokesman Mishon Lindstrom said the office has “full confidence in our election officials that they will be able to conduct a successful election.”
Last month, Raffensperger’s office proposed a temporary solution that would use QR codes to count votes on election night in order to provide instant results, but would then use scanning technology to recognize characters on ballots for legal counting — although experts said This method may be illegal.
Georgia law allows hand-marked paper ballots to be used in emergency situations, such as a power outage, but it is not a system designed for use by all voters.
However, for Favorito, the solution is simple: remove voting machines entirely. “Recorded votes are counted publicly so you can be sure there is no fraud,” he says.
He also rejected evidence showing that counting was not only automated Faster but more accurate and cheaper. When asked who would undertake the task of counting millions of ballot papers, Favorito suggested the possibility of using “volunteers and students.”
While Favorito says a manual counting system like this could be implemented in time for the 2026 midterm elections, those on the front lines running the elections say that’s simply not practical.
“Hand counting is dangerous,” says Deidre Holden, Paulding County elections director. “We need individuals who are committed and realize that what they are dealing with is someone’s vote. Not just a piece of paper that needs to be counted. It will be a struggle to find those student volunteers. We are already struggling to find committed poll workers, and they are getting paid.”
Another problem is the sheer volume of marked ballots that must be printed and properly delivered to voters on Election Day. For already under-resourced election officials across Georgia trying to prepare for election season, the lack of clarity is extremely frustrating.
“We are at the mercy of legislators,” says Dover, Cherokee County’s elections director. “This is not our problem to solve. Lawmakers created this problem.”