SB568: SB568 Elections and Primaries; the list of eligible voters is posted and made public prior to each primary or election; require

This bill amends Georgia's election code (O.C.G.A. Title 21, Chapter 2) in numerous ways. It requires county registrars to finish the official list of eligible voters at least five days before advance voting begins and make that list a public record open to inspection. It creates civil fines of up to $10,000 per registration when a board of registrars fails to remove a voter from the rolls after a successful challenge. The bill also revises how voting equipment and ballots work, allowing 'timing marks' on ballots to help scanners read votes, and requiring that when a jurisdiction uses multiple advance voting locations, each precinct is assigned to a specific location. After polls close, election officials would have to post a list of everyone who voted, and the Secretary of State would keep an archival database of those lists. The bill changes the recount threshold from one-half of one percent to one percent of votes cast, adjusts risk-limiting audit rules including which races must be audited and the statistical risk limits by year, and removes the Secretary of State's role in overseeing those audits unless asked by the State Election Board.

• Requires the official list of eligible voters to be completed and made public at least five days before advance voting starts in a primary or election.
• Creates civil fines of up to $10,000 per registration when a county board of registrars fails to remove a voter from the rolls after a successful challenge.
• 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.
• Requires jurisdictions with multiple advance voting locations to assign each precinct to a specific location and limit voting there to registered residents of that precinct.
• Allows ballots to use 'timing marks' so optical scanners can determine a voter's selections, in addition to existing anti-counterfeiting features.
• Raises the vote-margin threshold that triggers an automatic right to a recount from one-half of one percent to one percent of votes cast, and changes several risk-limiting audit procedures.

County boards of registrars and election superintendents, the Secretary of State's office, the State Election Board, candidates seeking recounts, voters casting ballots at advance voting sites, and members of the public who request voter lists or ballot images are all directly affected by this bill's changes.

The changes would make voter lists and who-voted records public sooner and permanently archived, expose registrars to significant fines for registration errors, change which close elections automatically qualify for a recount, and shift oversight of post-election audits away from the Secretary of State toward the State Election Board.

• Section 1 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-224) requires the official voter list to be finalized and made a public record at least five days before advance voting begins.
• Sections 2 and 3 (O.C.G.A. §§ 21-2-229, 21-2-230) impose civil fines up to $10,000 per registration when registrars fail to remove a challenged voter from the rolls.
• Section 4 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-300) revises the timeline for rolling out the state's uniform ballot-scanning equipment after July 1, 2026.
• Section 7 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-379.23) allows timing marks on ballots to help determine a voter's selections, while still barring QR codes or bar codes as the official vote record.
• Section 9 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-385) requires precinct-specific assignments when a jurisdiction has multiple advance voting locations, and sets notice deadlines for publishing voting sites.
• Section 10 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-421) requires posting an enumerated list of everyone who voted after polls close and directs the Secretary of State to archive those lists.
• Section 13 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-495) changes the automatic recount threshold from one-half of one percent to one percent of the total votes cast for an office or ballot question.
• Section 14 (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-498) revises risk-limiting audit rules, including which statewide races must be audited, yearly risk-limit percentages, and removes the Secretary of State's role in administering audits unless the State Election Board requests it.

1. 2026-03-06Senate Lost (Senate)
2. 2026-03-06Senate Third Read (Senate)
3. 2026-03-06Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
4. 2026-03-06Senate Tabled (Senate)
5. 2026-03-06Senate Engrossed (Senate)
6. 2026-03-04Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
7. 2026-03-03Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (Senate)
8. 2026-02-25Senate Read and Referred (Senate)

• Greg Dolezal (R, SD-027)Primary sponsor
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   32 yea, 22 nay (1 not voting, 0 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Sb 423, Sb 515, Sb 566, Sb 568, Sb 573, Sr 838: Senate Vote #640

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   27 yea, 22 nay (0 not voting, 6 absent)

   Motion To Remove From The Table: Senate Vote #688

3. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2026

   27 yea, 21 nay (1 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #689

• election administration
• voter rolls
• ballot design
• election recounts
• election audits