The amended bill wouldn’t remove computer QR codes from ballots for nearly two more years, frustrating critics of Georgia’s elections who say the state’s touchscreen voting system is untrustworthy and insecure.

Legislators had passed a state law in 2024 to remove QR codes by this year, but they said they need more time to buy new election equipment and train election workers before rolling out new technology for over 8 million registered Georgia voters.

The bill cleared the House Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday and could soon reach a vote in the full House of Representatives.

“This was not the original vision that we had proposed,” said House Governmental Affairs Chairman Victor Anderson, R-Cornelia. “We very quickly and very abruptly began to realize the practicality of that happening without causing a severe upset in our election.”

All in-person Georgia voters use touchscreens that print out paper ballots, which are then tabulated by scanning machines that read a QR code.

Opponents of Georgia’s voting technology say voters aren’t able to read QR codes to verify that their ballots accurately reflect their choices.

Under Senate Bill 214, the state government would buy new machines that would print out ballots on-demand when voters arrive at the polls starting in 2028. Then voters would bubble in their choices with a pen and insert their ballots into a scanner.

“We’re kicking the can down the road another two years,” said Autumn Miller, a Fulton County voter who testified to the committee Tuesday. “I don’t trust this. When can we get our election back? What can we do as a voter to get these QR codes off and have a good election?”

Election officials from counties across the state turned out at the committee meeting in support of the revised bill.

“This is something that’s setting us up for success and not for failure. The timeline was our biggest concern,” said Paulding County Election Director Deidre Holden. “It’s our duty to serve our voters and to serve them well. I don’t like confusion when it comes to our voters.”

The bill doesn’t include funding, but Anderson said he’s working to identify money in the state budget to pay for the new voting system.

When Georgia bought its touchscreen-based voting system in 2019, manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, it cost over $100 million.

Both election security advocates and conservatives have for years opposed Georgia’s voting equipment. Republican criticisms of the technology increased after Republican President Donald Trump narrowly lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden.

“We cannot have fair and accurate elections with the Dominion machines,” said Earl Ferguson, a conservative voter, told the committee.

The Senate rejected a bill earlier this month that would have forced Georgia to make a rapid conversion to hand-marked paper ballots in time for this year’s midterms. That legislation, which called for hand-marked paper ballots and fewer early voting locations, failed amid concerns it would lead to “chaos” and voters unable to cast their ballots.

Hand-marked ballots are the main election day voting method in two-thirds of the United States, according to the election technology organization Verified Voting.

If the House passes this version of SB 214, it would return to the Senate for another vote. But if the Senate disagrees with the changes to the bill, a conference committee would need to resolve any disputes.

Without a new state law, the July 1 deadline to remove QR codes would remain in place without any plan to do so. Anderson warned that inaction by the General Assembly could lead the problem to be decided by the courts right before a major election.