Georgia CommonsSenate · Failed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
SB 568: Elections and Primaries; the list of eligible voters is posted and made public prior to each primary or election; require
Last action March 6, 2026 · Senate Lost
A Senate committee substitute to SB 568 would rewrite large parts of Georgia's election law, requiring public posting of voter lists, adding fines for registrars who miss removal deadlines, and changing ballot design, recount, and audit rules statewide.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
SB 568, as substituted by the Senate Committee on Ethics, amends Georgia's election code (O.C.G.A. Title 21, Chapter 2) in numerous ways. It requires county boards of registrars to finalize the list of eligible voters at least five days before advance voting starts and makes that list a public record open to inspection. It creates civil fines of up to $10,000 per registration for boards of registrars that fail to remove a voter after a successful challenge. The bill also changes voting equipment rules for elections after July 1, 2026, moving toward hand marked paper ballots read by optical scanners with counterfeit detection, while keeping electronic ballot markers available for voters with disabilities. It adds rules for multiple advance voting locations, requires posting a list of who voted after polls close, directs the Secretary of State to keep an archive of those lists, changes ballot recount margins from 0.5 percent to 1 percent, requires recounts to be done by hand, and revises which races get risk-limiting audits and who oversees them.
What the bill does
- Requires the official voter list to be finalized at least five days before advance voting and makes it a public record open for inspection and copying.
- Creates civil fines up to $10,000 per improperly retained registration for boards of registrars that fail to remove a successfully challenged voter.
- Shifts Georgia's voting equipment, after July 1, 2026, toward an optical scanning system using hand marked paper ballots with counterfeit-detecting infrared scanners, while keeping electronic ballot markers for voters with disabilities.
- Requires counties with multiple advance voting locations to assign specific precincts to each location and limit voters to their assigned site.
- Requires posting a list of everyone who voted after polls close and directs the Secretary of State to keep a permanent archive of those lists.
- Changes the automatic recount margin from one-half of one percent to one percent of votes cast and requires recounts to be done by manual hand count.
Who it affects
County boards of registrars and election superintendents, the Secretary of State's office, the State Election Board, candidates seeking recounts, voters (including those with disabilities who rely on electronic ballot markers), and members of the public who request voter lists or scanned ballot images.
Why it matters
The bill changes how Georgians' ballots are marked and counted, gives the public new access to voter lists and vote-cast records, and imposes financial penalties on local election officials who don't remove challenged voters, which could affect election administration, transparency, and costs at the county level.
Key provisions
- Section 1 requires the voter list be completed five days before advance voting begins and makes it a public record under Georgia's open records law (O.C.G.A. § 50-18-70 et seq.).
- Sections 2 and 3 add civil fines of up to $10,000 per registration for boards of registrars that fail to remove voters after successful challenges.
- Section 4 requires that after July 1, 2026, elections use an optical scanning system with hand marked paper ballots and infrared counterfeit detection, keeping electronic ballot markers for voters with disabilities.
- Section 9 requires counties or municipalities with multiple advance voting locations to assign each precinct to a specific location and limit voters to that site.
- Section 10 requires posting a list of everyone who voted after polls close and has the Secretary of State maintain an archival database of those lists.
- Section 12 adds requirements to post authentication files, cast vote records, and system logs alongside scanned ballot images, and removes the fee that used to be charged for high-resolution ballot scan requests.
- Section 13 lowers the recount threshold from a 0.5 percent vote margin to 1 percent and requires recounts to be conducted by manual hand count of all ballots.
- Section 14 changes which races get mandatory risk-limiting audits (adding U.S. Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, and Attorney General) and removes the Secretary of State's role in administering those audits unless the State Election Board requests it.
From the bill
“Failure to comply with the provisions of this Code section by the board of registrars shall subject such board to sanctions by the State Election Board, including civil fines of up to $10,000.00 per registration not properly removed.”
“On such fifth calendar day prior to the first day of advance voting, such list shall be deemed a public record subject to inspection and copying pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 18 of Title 50.”
“Any recount pursuant to this subsection shall be conducted using a manual hand count of all ballots cast in such primary or election.”
Discussed in meetings (7)
The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.
Senate Ethics Committee, March 2, 2026
From 1:15:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor presented a substitute moving to hand-marked paper ballots, assigned early voting sites, public voter lists and ballot images, broader hand audits and a larger recount threshold. The sponsor cited voting software vulnerabilities and an approaching deadline to stop using QR codes. Members questioned registration complaints, taxpayer costs, voting access and $10,000 fines per registration. The sponsor said fines would follow challenges, hearings and appeal opportunities, not merely an outdated registration. A State Election Board member, a Georgia Republican Party witness and other supporters favored stronger registration enforcement and paper ballots. A Gwinnett election board chair, speaking personally, said implementation was workable. Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials witnesses supported paper ballots but warned that proceeding without on-demand ballot printing could cause confusion and logistical problems. They also raised ballot privacy, reporting deadlines and audit workload concerns. Poll workers and Fulton County’s commission chair opposed the timing and restrictions. The sponsor acknowledged there was no fiscal note and said funding should be considered through the budget. The committee adopted an amendment using ballot identifiers in batches of 100, changing online reporting and reducing the proposed recount threshold from 2% to 1%. A delay to July 2027 failed 4-8. The amended bill passed 8-4.
Senate Rules Committee, March 5, 2026
From 0:50:25 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said SB 568 would move elections to paper ballots and add audit and security provisions. The sponsor did not explain those provisions further, and no substantive questions followed. The committee unanimously included the bill in the floor-calendar package.
Senate floor session, March 6, 2026 (legislative day 28, part 1)
From 1:05:46 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Engrossed)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The clerk described SB 568 as requiring public posting of eligible-voter lists before elections and civil fines when registrars fail to remove voters after successful challenges. The majority leader included it in a motion to bar floor amendments. The Senate approved that motion for this bill and five other measures, 32 to 20. No separate debate or passage vote on this bill appears in the transcript.
Senate floor session, March 6, 2026 (legislative day 28, part 2)
From 4:01:19 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Taken from Table)
Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said the substitute would move Georgia to hand-marked, machine-scanned paper ballots, assign early voters to specific sites, publish voter information, impose fines for certain registration violations, expand recount eligibility, require full manual audits of specified races, and transfer audit oversight to the State Election Board. The sponsor cited software vulnerabilities and a July 2026 deadline to stop using ballot QR codes. Members questioned costs, equipment purchases, and whether counties could implement changes that quickly. The sponsor said the state would provide equipment, acknowledged remaining concerns, and proposed further House work. One member questioned the sponsor’s earlier support for ballot-marking devices; the sponsor cited subsequent experiences with the vendor. Other members warned about retraining workers, lost early-voting flexibility, unelected audit oversight, and potential exposure of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors through voter lists. One opponent suggested changing the existing deadline instead. One supporter called the bill deeply flawed but favored continued work; another argued that action was needed to meet existing law. The Senate removed the bill from the table, 27-22, and adopted the substitute. The final vote was 27-21, below the required majority, so the bill failed.
Status timeline
- Senate Lost (Senate)
- Senate Third Read (Senate)
- Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
- Senate Tabled (Senate)
- Senate Engrossed (Senate)
- Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
Show full history (9 actions)
- Senate Hopper (Senate)
Sponsors
- Greg Dolezal (R, SD-27)
- Max Burns (R, SD-23)
- Carden Summers (R, SD-13)
- Steve Gooch (R, SD-51)
- Matt Brass (R, SD-6)
- Ben Watson (R, SD-1)
- Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-31)
- Brian Strickland (R, SD-42)
- Blake Tillery (R, SD-19)
Votes
- Senate voteMarch 6, 2026
32 yea, 22 nay (1 not voting, 0 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 6, 2026
27 yea, 22 nay (0 not voting, 6 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 6, 2026
27 yea, 21 nay (1 not voting, 6 excused)
Topics
- election administration
- voter registration
- voting equipment
- ballot recounts
- election audits