Georgia

Paper ballots focus of latest election reform push in Georgia legislature

Published

2 years ago

February 5, 2024

Paper ballots focus of latest election reform push in Georgia legislature

Dave Williams
| Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA – Five years ago, the General Assembly’s Republican majorities passed legislation providing for a paper backup to electronic ballots, a move aimed at giving Georgians more confidence their votes are being counted correctly.

But legislative leaders aren’t content with that election reform measure. This year, they’re pushing a series of bills aimed largely at paper ballots responding to election watchdog groups clamoring for more tools to ensure accurate outcomes.

“It will bring more confidence,” state Rep. Steve Tarvin, R-Chickamauga, said on the House floor Jan. 31. “It’s something we need to restore.”

The 2024 crop of election bills includes:

Senate Bill 89 and House Bill 975, requiring use of the text portion of paper ballots in tabulating votes rather than QR codes.
House Bill 974, requiring Georgia’s secretary of state to develop and implement a statewide system allowing members of the voting public to scan paper ballots.
House Bill 976, requiring a “visible security device” in the form of a watermark on paper ballots.
House Bill 977, expanding the number of races subject to “risk-limiting” audits.

The QR codes bill already has cleared the Senate Ethics Committee but remains pending before the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Republican lawmakers have cited numerous complaints from constituents about the use of QR codes.

“There’s been a lot of doubt surrounding the QR code, voters questioning whether the QR code is interpreting their vote accurately,” said Rep. John LaHood, R-Valdosta, chairman of the House Governmental Affairs Committee. “Having the actual text they can see and interpret themselves … is the right correction for us to go in.”

Former Republican Rep. Scot Turner of Cherokee County told members of the House panel he tried unsuccessfully to amend the 2019 bill to get rid of the QR code.

“Nobody’s going to trust the QR codes,” he said.

Senate Ethics Committee Chairman Max Burns, R-Sylvania, said the Dominion touch-screen voting system the state uses is capable of allowing the text portion of paper ballots to tabulate votes instead of the QR code.

“We’re going to leave the details and technical requirements up to the secretary of state,” he said.

But those technical requirements are giving the House committee pause. The panel has yet to act on the House version of the legislation amid questions surrounding the cost and who’s going to pay for it.

“This could require a heavy purchase of equipment,” LaHood said.

“I’m opposed to any unfunded mandates on counties until we have more information,” added Rep. Shea Roberts, D-Atlanta.

The House hasn’t hesitated on the watermark bill, the only one of the four measures that has cleared a legislative chamber. The House passed House Bill 976 Jan. 31 with only one “no” vote.

LaHood told his House colleagues before the vote the legislation would require a one-time cost of $110,000.

“This is a low-cost, high-value measure,” he said.

The other two bills – House Bill 974 and House Bill 977 – have passed the Governmental Affairs Committee but not yet reached the House floor.

House Bill 974 would expand to a statewide program an existing pilot project giving voters the ability to scan paper ballots online.

More: Bipartisan sports betting bill passes in Georgia Senate, but late amendment might capsize it

“This is something that can be implemented right away,” LaHood said. “(The secretary of state) is making provisions to do this.”

House Bill 977 would expand the number of election contests subject to audits from just the race at the top of the ballot to a second race involving one of the statewide races. The second race to be audited would be chosen by a committee of five officials: the governor, lieutenant governor, the speaker of the state House of Representatives, and the House and Senate minority leaders.

Anne Herring, policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia, raised concerns about the latter provision.

“The governor and lieutenant governor get to vote on whether their own races will be audited,” Herring told LaHood’s committee. “That’s a little concerning to me in terms of public confidence in elections.”

LaHood said including the two minority leaders and bringing the membership to five should allay those concerns.

“One or two people couldn’t sway that decision,” he said. “We need three people to vote together.”

The full House and Senate are expected to act on all of the election reform bills this month.

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Georgia

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

Published

6 days ago

September 23, 2025

Press Room

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule announced

The SEC has announced the future Georgia football conference opponents for the 2026 through 2029 seasons.

Georgia will face Florida, South Carolina and Auburn every season. The SEC announced on Friday that the annual opponents will be revisited every four seasons.

Georgia football future SEC opponents, schedule

2026: Florida (Atlanta), at South Carolina, Auburn, at Alabama, at Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Vanderbilt
2027: Florida (Tampa), South Carolina, at Auburn, at Kentucky, at Texas, at Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee
2028: Florida (Jacksonville), at South Carolina, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at Oklahoma, at Missouri, at Vanderbilt
2029: Florida (Jacksonville), South Carolina, at Auburn, Kentucky, Texas, Texas A&M, at LSU, at Mississippi State, at Tennessee

“it’s hard. I mean, it’s brutal. And everybody’s the same,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night. “I mean, we all gotta play each other. It’s really tough, highly ranked teams, physical teams. It’s just going to continue to be a grind. I mean, looking forward with the nines coming, it’s going to be scary because you just don’t have enough. Nobody has enough depth.”

Dates for the 2026 schedule will be announced in December, according to the conference. The schedules will be flipped in 2028 and 2029 from the home-road splits in 2026 and 2027.

In its scheduling outline, the SEC made it clear it wants competitively balanced schedules, which will be determined using the entire schedule and not just the annual opponents. Tennessee reportedly will face Alabama, Vanderbilt and Kentucky in each of the next four years. The latter two are not exactly football powerhouses.

According to the SEC, the highest opponent average winning percentage for any school in the 2026-29 schedules is 55.67% while the lowest is 46.65%, a difference of only 9.02%. From 2020 through 2023 — when the league still used the divisional format — the highest winning percentage was 61.32% and the lowest was 39.76%.

In addition to nine conference games, the SEC stipulates that schools face one Power Four in its nonconference scheduling.

Georgia’s game against Georgia Tech satisfies that requirement. Georgia has future nonconference games against Louisville, Florida State, Clemson and Ohio State on its schedule for the time being.

As it stands, Georgia has 13 games scheduled for the 2025 season. The Bulldogs have nonconfernce games against Tennessee State, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Georgia Tech.

“We’re working through that right now, and a lot of that’s going to be determined as we learn when and where our schedule is going to be in the next few weeks,” Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks said. “But that’s something we’re attacking right now to see what our options are going to be in 2026. So we’re going to take it one year at a time right now. The first focus is going to be on 2026 and then 2027 and moving on. So still a lot of work to be done, and I work closely with Coach Smart and Mark Robinson and the league to kind of figure out what is that going to mean for our schedule moving forward.”

Georgia takes on Alabama this week, with the game scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Georgia

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

Published

2 weeks ago

September 14, 2025

Press Room

‘Tinder Swindler’ Leviev arrested upon Georgia arrival | The Jerusalem Post

The grounds for his arrest are still unknown, even to his attorneys.

Screenshot of Simon Leviev, the Tinder Swindler, in his documentary series on Free TV.

(photo credit: COURTESY OF FREE TV VIA MAARIV)

ByYOAV ETIEL, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 01:43

Updated: SEPTEMBER 15, 2025 02:03

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Georgia

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2025

Press Room

Clemson vs. Georgia Tech: College football live scores, games, highlights and more

We’re back for another week of college football action and the slate is loaded, including three games between ranked opponents.

Here’s how to watch in Week 3. Scroll down for live scores, highlights and more.

Here are the best games this Saturday:

Clemson at Georgia Tech (+3), Noon ET, ESPN: The Tigers are just 3-point favorites ahead of their first road game. It’s a sign that expectations for Clemson have been way off. With Haynes King back, the Yellow Jackets will want to keep it on the ground.

Georgia at Tennessee (+4), 3:30 p.m., ABC: Has Georgia’s offense been good enough ahead of this pivotal SEC game? Saturday is the day to air it out as Tennessee will be without its top two corners again.

South Florida at Miami (-17.5), 4:30 p.m., The CW: The Bulls are the surprise team so far this season. Can they pull off a third straight upset, or will the ‘Canes handle business?

Florida at LSU (-7), 7:30 p.m., ABC: This game was going to be the day’s marquee matchup before Florida’s loss to USF. A Florida victory would certainly quiet the idea that Billy Napier is on the hot seat.

Texas A&M at Notre Dame (-6.5), 7:30 p.m., NBC: Aggies QB Marcel Reed has thrown for seven TDs so far and A&M’s offense has racked up 953 total yards. The Irish will surely try to get the ball to their star running backs after a subpar opener.

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