House committee approves substitute to elections bill, raises recount threshold to 1%

A House committee approved a substitute to Senate Bill 214 on a voice vote after a presentation outlining several technical and administrative changes to state election law.

The lawmaker who presented the substitute said the measure creates a defined term, 'hand‑marked paper ballot,' and adds a cybersecurity expert to the Secretary of State's advisory committee for certifying a uniform statewide election system. "We're just adding a cybersecurity expert to that advisory panel," the lawmaker said. The substitute also requires a serialized ballot batch identifier on ballot formats and moves the recount threshold from one‑half of 1 percent to 1 percent.

The changes were described by the presenter as mostly definitions and technical updates. The presenter said section 20 (the recount threshold change) and the section assigning optical character recognition (OCR) audits to the state election board will be effective in July, so they would not take effect for the primary election but would be in place for the general election later in the year.

Committee members asked several procedural questions, including how members of the advisory committee would be selected and whether counties are excluded from representation. The presenter said the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Elected Officials (as referenced in the transcript) would provide nominees and that appointments would be made to ensure multiple counties are represented rather than having two members from the same county.

After discussion, the chair called for the motion to approve the substitute to Senate Bill 214 (LC 47 4 3 1 8 S). The motion was moved and seconded and the chair announced the substitute was approved with no recorded opposition.

What happens next: The substitute will appear on the committee's supplemental calendar and proceed through the legislative process as scheduled.