By JEFF AMY and KATE BRUMBACK

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s State Election Board on Wednesday rejected a proposal defining when hand-marked paper ballots could be used in place of the state’s touchscreen voting machines.

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Opponents said the rule would have overstepped the board’s legal authority and could have created an escape hatch for widespread use of paper ballots when state lawmakers mandated the use of the ballot-marking devices.

Janice Johnston, the board’s vice chair, seemed to agree, saying, “This really is the duty and the job of the legislators.”

The proposed rule failed on a 2-2 vote after a debate in which proponents contended that use of the current machines at least sometimes violates the law because voters can’t read their ballots’ QR code to ensure it matches the paper ballot, and because machines don’t afford enough privacy to voters.

“You have both the duty and the responsibility for the conduct of legal elections in Georgia,” said Jeanne Dufort, a county Democratic official and a co-author of the bipartisan proposal.

Hand-marked paper ballots are Georgia’s backup when the machines can’t be used because of an “emergency.” The proposed rule would have listed qualifying circumstances that define when the use of machines is “impossible or impracticable.”

Struggle over Georgia voting machines

Proponents of the change included longtime opponents of Georgia’s voting machines, as well as those who rallied to the cause after the 2020 election, when wild conspiracy theories about the machines proliferated as President Donald Trump’s allies alleged they were used to steal victory from him.

Georgia’s election system was implemented statewide ahead of the 2020 primary elections. Manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems, which was bought earlier this year by Liberty Vote, it includes touchscreen voting machines that print paper ballots featuring a human-readable list of voters’ selections and a QR code that a scanner reads to count votes.

Even before 2020, some election integrity activists had argued voters can’t be sure their votes are accurately recorded because they can’t read the QR code and that the voting machines’ large, upright screens violate the right to ballot secrecy. They also assert that the system has major security flaws that the state hasn’t addressed.

The secretary of state’s office maintains that the system is secure and Georgia’s election results are accurate and reliable.

Salleigh Grubbs, first vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party was the other co-author of the rule. She argued that although lawmakers passed a law to eliminate use of QR codes from ballots after July 1, 2026, the board needs to act because lawmakers and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger have not yet moved ahead with plans to remove the codes.

“We are already voting on an illegal system,” Grubbs said, a sentiment that Johnston said she agreed with despite voting against the rule.

Dufort argued legal reasons for not using the machines are much broader than just operational emergencies like power outages at polling place.

“There are variety of reasons why the primary method of marking your ballot isn’t usable” Dufort said.

Limits of the board’s power

But critics, including key legislators and the state attorney general’s office, opposed the measure. They said the board was in danger of again trying to usurp the power of legislators. A Georgia Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that said the State Election Board can pass rules to “implement and enforce” election laws, but cannot “go beyond, change or contradict” the laws. That ruling stemmed from a challenge to board’s adoption of a number of new rules before last year’s election.

“We are putting ourselves at risk of getting swatted back under the very precedent that was created to constrain and orient this board,” said Sara Tindall Ghazal, the lone Democrat and only lawyer on the board. She voted against the rule.

State Rep. Victor Anderson, vice chair of a special study committee on elections, told The Associated Press earlier that legislators are working to address concerns about the voting machines.

“I feel like the proposed rule is trying to get ahead of that before we handle it through the proper sources,” he said.

Some opponents of the rule worried it could have forced a switch to hand-marked paper ballots in an end-run around the state’s requirement that in-person voters use touchscreen voting machines. Many Republican activists have been demanding such a move since 2020.

“These definitions appear to be a backdoor attempt to move Georgia to the routine use of hand-marked paper ballots,” said Janet Green, a DeKalb County poll worker who commented Wednesday.

State Election Board members said they would instead lobby lawmakers to adopt a version of the rule into law.

“We will be in communication with the General Assembly to address the problem they created,” Johnston said.