A Conspiracy About QR Codes Has Caused Confusion Ahead of Georgia’s Midterms.

When WIRED asked Favorito if, despite all the research and research where they did not find evidence Fraud, he still believes that the 2020 elections were rigged using QR codes, Favorito replied: “I think it is possible.”

Georgia’s bill did not specify how QR codes should be replaced, but it set a July 1, 2026 deadline to phase out the use of the codes. Efforts to demonize QR codes were encouraged in March 2025 by Trump signed an executive order they want the Election Assistance Commission to approve new rules to ban the counting of votes through QR codes in most of the country. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.

Since then, Georgia’s legislators have repeatedly failed to implement a system to replace QR codes or change the electoral process. So with six months to go before the midterms, election officials across the state are at a standstill, unsure of what to do or whether new rules will be enacted.

When asked how the votes will be counted in time, Anne Dover, director of elections for Cherokee County, told WIRED: “Unfortunately, we don’t have an answer to that question.”

Some believe that Governor Brian Kemp will recall the legislature for a special session designed to address the problem. Kemp declined to comment, and spokeswoman Carter Chapman referred WIRED to what he said in early April after the legislature adjourned without a new plan, which the office said it was working on.

Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, also declined to comment on how it will be resolved, but spokeswoman Michon Lindstrom said the office “has every confidence in our election officials that they will be able to conduct a successful election.”

Last month, Raffensperger’s office proposed a temporary workaround that would use QR codes to count votes on election night to provide instant results, but the highly visible crowd-scanning technology would be used to count legislative votes — even experts said. this method may be illegal.

Georgia law allows for the use of hand-printed ballots in emergencies, such as power outages, but it is not a system designed for use by all voters.

For Favorito however, the solution is simple: Get rid of the voting machine entirely. He said: “Hands taken in public to make sure there is no cheating.”

He also removed the evidence that the counting machine is not the only one fast but accurate and cheap. When asked who would be responsible for counting the millions of votes, Favorito said that “volunteers and students” would be used.

Although Favorito says that a manual counting system like this could be implemented in the mid-2026 period, those on the front lines of the election process say this is unlikely.

“Counting hands is difficult,” says Deidre Holden, director of elections for Paulding County. “We need people who are dedicated and who understand that what they are doing is someone’s voice. Not just a paper that needs to be read. It may be difficult to find these dedicated students. We are already struggling to find research staff, and they are paid.”

Another issue is the number of ballots that need to be printed and properly delivered to voters on election day. And for already unemployed election officials across Georgia who are trying to prepare for election season, the lack of clarity is especially frustrating.

“We’re in the hands of the legislators,” said Dover, Cherokee County’s director of elections. “This is not our problem to solve. The legislators created this problem.”