Georgia’s Senate has passed a bill that would require a hand recount of ballots in the state’s elections, despite strong opposition from Democrats. The bill, which aims to keep the state’s current vote-counting method in place for this year’s midterm elections, was approved by Republicans in the Senate on a party-line vote.

Background

Georgia’s governor, Republican Brian Kemp, had called lawmakers into a special session to address a July 1 deadline that was set to ban the QR codes used for the official vote count. However, the amended bill passed by the Senate includes a provision that would require a full hand recount of the two races at the top of the ballot, which Democrats argue would create chaos and delay results.

State Rep. Saira Draper, a Democrat, criticized the Republican Senate for acting “extraordinarily irresponsibly” with Georgia’s elections. On the other hand, Republican state Sen. Max Burns defended the bill, saying that hand counts and machine counts can “coexist and confirm each other’s ultimate results.”

Implications

The bill’s passage has sparked concerns about the potential impact on the state’s elections. Voting rights activists have warned that any changes to the voting system so close to the midterm elections could create confusion at polling sites. Additionally, research has shown that hand-counting is more prone to error, costlier, and likely to delay results.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.