Good afternoon,
This message is to provide guidance on compliance with Senate Bill (S.B.) 189 and all relevant provisions of the Georgia Election Code to counties involved in the July 28, 2026 Special Election for Congressional District 13. This guidance is preliminary and subject to modification depending on any legislative changes by the General Assembly during the upcoming special legislative session convening on June 17, 2026.
Section 7 of S.B. 189, effective July 1, 2026, amends O.C.G.A. § 21-2-379.23(d) to state that the text portion of the paper ballot marked and printed by the elector shall be the “official vote” for purposes of the “official tabulation count.” S.B. 189 also authorized the Secretary of State to create a program to use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to count votes using the human-readable text on the summary paper ballots printed by the electronic ballot markers, in addition to the scanner tabulation based on the QR code. Continuing this program, the General Assembly appropriated $1.8 million in the amended FY26 budget “to utilize text-based ballot-scanning technology for vote tabulation for compliance with S.B. 189.”
As authorized by the legislature, the Secretary of State plans to conduct a count of the human-readable text portion of the paper ballots using OCR technology for the Special Election. This count will be completed prior to county certification. To the extent that the OCR count detects any discrepancy between the human-readable text and the QR code, the human-readable text count will control and be included in the “official tabulation count” certified at the county and state levels.
This guidance is consistent with the intent of the legislature as expressed in the text of S.B. 189 and supported by funding appropriated by the General Assembly. This guidance further complies with all applicable provisions of the Election Code pertaining to voting and tabulation, including the mandate in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-300 that paper ballots be marked on electronic ballot markers and tabulated using optical scanners.
Importantly, there is nothing in the text of S.B. 189 that permits counties to utilize a different method of voting or tabulation other than what is mandated in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-300, such as use of hand-marked paper ballots for in-person voting or hand-counting of ballots. Counties must continue to use the state voting system, which consists of ballot marking devices for all in person voting and ballot scanners. Further, counties must tabulate and report results on Election Day under currently established procedures and consistent with applicable statutes and rules. Election Day results will be reported on election night as unofficial results per standard practice. Counties must certify the results of the Special Election by August 3, 2026.
Additional technical procedures and training will be provided by the Secretary of State’s Elections Division in advance of the Special Election. As stated above, this guidance may be modified in response to any subsequent legislative changes by the General Assembly.
Blake Evans
Elections Director
Georgia Secretary of State
Cell: 470-701-6901
