A Georgia state judge has thrown out a conspiracy theory-fueled lawsuit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) that sought to open the state’s election-night operations center to far-right observers.

Filed by Republican lieutenant governor candidate Greg Dolezal, along with other GOP plaintiffs, the lawsuit attempted to force Raffensperger to allow poll watchers and members of the MAGA-controlled State Election Board (SEB) inside the state’s Emergency Operations Center, where statewide vote totals are received and published.

In her dismissal order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melynee Leftridge wrote that Dolezal — the only plaintiff who had standing to bring the suit — failed to show that state law required Raffensperger to permit public access to the Emergency Operations Center.

“No polling, voting, scanning, tabulation, verification or adjudication of voted ballots takes place at the Emergency Operations Center,” Leftridge wrote. “All such activities are conducted at the county level, where poll watchers and members of the State Election Board have access to observe them.”

While the Republican plaintiffs asserted that Raffensperger undermined trust in the electoral process by limiting access to the center, the suit was widely seen as an attempt to invite partisan interference in Georgia’s elections. 

While plaintiffs sought access for Georgia’s May 19 primary races, they likely would have attempted to maintain access for future elections, including the state’s primary run-offs this week and the general election in November. 

Dolezal, who is in a close primary runoff, has made election skepticism a central component of his campaign. Earlier this year, he called on the SEB to take over control of Fulton County’s elections based on nonexistent claims of voter fraud.

Georgian film-maker Alexandre Koberidze appeared to revive the spirit of the French New Wave with his previous film What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? – an unhurried, meandering and garrulous movie with its own cheeky sort of low-tech magic realism as it followed its nose around the city of Kutaisi. His new film is a mystifying three-hour road movie, shot (as was his debut film Let the Summer Never Come Again) on low-res video, like that of an obsolete cameraphone. It is even more challenging and I have to admit it defeated me, despite some intriguing qualities, including a dry touch of comedy.

A middle-aged man called Irakli (David Koberidze) receives a letter addressed to him and his wife, Nino (Irina Chelidze), from their twentysomething photographer daughter Lisa, announcing that she wishes to disappear from their lives. A police officer tells them that Lisa is an adult who can do what she likes. But an oddly emotionless Irakli sets out to track her down anyway, even though another more conventionally plausible movie would have found room for a conversation about the cost of a private detective. Lisa was photographing football fields when she vanished, so Irakli’s plan is just to drive around the country’s football fields, asking people nearby if they’ve seen her. The result is many desultory conversations with people who are apparently nonprofessional actors.

With Irakli in the car is Lisa’s friend Levani who is … invisible. We hear him. We don’t see him. (The same goes for some of the people that Irakli talks to.) This invisibility creates a baffling extra level of oddity and contrivance to this film, which, for me, added and created nothing. As a formal experiment, Dry Leaf has its own conviction and self-possession and there is a deliberate, if opaque artistry here: one shot shows us a dry leaf under Irakli’s car-tyres, another gives us wet leaves in a waterfall. The soft-edged, pixelated look is, however, interesting and surprisingly watchable, bringing a kind of painterly effect.

Georgia lawmakers are set to return to the State Capitol on June 17 for a special legislative session that is likely to shape both the state’s political map and how votes are counted in upcoming elections.

Gov. Brian Kemp called the session primarily to address congressional redistricting following recent court developments ahead of the 2028 election cycle. But lawmakers are also facing pressure to resolve an election administration issue involving the state’s voting system before a special congressional election scheduled later this summer.

The dispute stems from legislation passed in 2024 that prohibited Georgia from using QR codes as the official method of tabulating votes after July 1, 2026.

At the time, supporters argued the change would increase transparency by relying on vote selections that voters can directly read rather than machine-generated barcodes. However, lawmakers never approved a replacement system before the deadline arrived.

Georgia currently uses touchscreen ballot-marking devices that print a paper ballot containing both a human-readable summary of a voter’s choices and a QR code. Election scanners use the QR code to tabulate votes.

Earlier this year, state senators considered Senate Bill 568, a wider election proposal that included changes to voting technology and election administration. The measure ultimately failed to advance before the General Assembly adjourned, leaving state officials without a obvious course ahead as the July deadline approaches.

The issue has become more urgent because a special election to fill the remainder of late U.S. Rep. David Scott’s congressional term is scheduled for July 28, with early voting beginning July 6.

Adding to the uncertainty, Georgia’s Secretary of State’s Office and the State Election Board have issued conflicting guidance on how counties should proceed if lawmakers do not act.

The Secretary of State’s Office has proposed a process that would continue using existing voting machines while relying on software to tabulate votes based on the human-readable text printed on ballots rather than QR codes. Meanwhile, the State Election Board has argued that the approach is not authorized under current law and has directed counties to prepare to use hand-marked paper ballots and optical scanners as an emergency backup if the deadline remains in place.

State election officials and county administrators have warned that the conflicting instructions could create confusion for local election offices and potentially invite litigation if the issue is not resolved before voting begins. Henry County election officials, whose voters will participate in the upcoming congressional special election, have said they are awaiting additional guidance from the state.

According to AP, a possible outcome of the special session would be for lawmakers to extend the QR-code deadline, allowing Georgia to continue using its current system through upcoming elections while state leaders consider longer-term changes. Another possibility would be adopting a new tabulation process before the deadline takes effect, though election administrators have brought up concerns about implementing significant changes so close to an active election cycle.

While congressional redistricting is expected to dominate much of the political debate during the special session, the election equipment issue could have more immediate consequences for voters heading to the polls later this summer.

Lawmakers are expected to begin work when the special session convenes on June 17 at the Georgia State Capitol.