Georgia Senator Introduces Bill to Shift to Paper Ballots

Republican Senator Greg Dolezal introduced Senate Bill 568 to overhaul Georgia's election system, aiming for implementation in the November 2026 election. The legislation would replace touchscreen voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots and require early voters to be assigned to a single precinct within their county, ending the practice of voting at any location within a county.

Under the proposal, the State Election Board would assume authority over recounts and election challenges, while the automatic recount threshold would increase from 1.5% to 2%. The bill also mandates that local clerks publicly post full voting rolls before elections to address concerns regarding voting roll integrity.

Democratic lawmakers have sharply criticized the bill. Senate Democratic Leader Harold Jones characterized the effort as an attempt to suppress votes, asserting that Democrats would oppose any such overhaul. State Senator Sonya Halpern specifically argued that publicly posting voting rolls constitutes an invasion of voter privacy and emphasized the need for trust in election officials.