This week felt like a month.

Democracy and voting rights have been front and center. We fought bad voting bills in the legislature, called out Donald Trump’s call to nationalize elections, and explained the significance of the FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections Hub—there was a lot to talk about. Oh yeah, and I helped author an op-ed in the AJC about the SAVE Act, which is rapidly making its way through Congress. It has the potential to disenfranchise millions of existing voters.

One of the most powerful tools I have as a state legislator—especially as a member in the minority party—is to use my platform to call attention to the items I think we should focus on. That’s why I’ve been making a lot of press appearances this week, and will continue to do so.

The issues that came up this week may seem unrelated: the FBI raid, state election board (SEB) members talking openly about taking over Fulton County elections, SB 214 as a solution to the QR code issue, Trump’s statements about nationalizing elections, seizing voting machines, taking over the voter rolls, and prosecuting Georgia elected officials because of their involvement with the 2020 election. But they actually all go to the same thing— laying a foundation for calling into doubt the results of the 2026/2028 elections. Something I can do in my job is connect the dots for people so we all see clearly the danger that is before us. I contributed to this article in Mother Jones, that helps make the case.

I don’t say this lightly: our democracy is at stake. We MUST pay attention.

In this Edition of the Draper Paper

• First Attempt at a Major Election Overhaul Stalled. For now.

• Federal Interference with Georgia’s Elections

• New Sponsored Legislation

• Highlights from this Week at the Capitol

Last week I wrote about the QR code issue. What’s the QR code issue, you ask? In a nutshell, two years ago the legislature passed SB 189, a law saying we needed to move away from using the QR code on ballots as the official way to count ballots. Find a full description of the issue here. Since the deadline to do so—July 2026— is rapidly approaching, we need to find a way to address the QR code issue this legislative session.

While SB 189 didn’t explicitly say Georgia had to change its voting system, by prohibiting the use of the QR code as the official count, it makes it impossible to use our current voting system as we use it now. That’s not to say that changing voting systems is the only solution (it’s not), but it does mean that changing voting systems is one possible solution to the QR code problem. In fact, insiders largely understood that the intent behind SB 189 was to push Georgia toward hand marked paper ballots (HMPB) and away from the Dominion voting machines we have used statewide since 2020.

However, to the extent a forced transition from machines to HMPB was the intent of SB 189, that transition needed to begin in 2024. It would be a major overhaul, after all. Overhauls require time to roll out responsibly. We require time to pass new legislation, seek additional funding, source new equipment, hold competitive bidding processes, run pilots, and train poll workers on new procedures, and more.

But that gradual transition never happened. After legislators passed SB 189, they largely ignored working out the details for the next year and a half. So I assumed that meant that the option to transition to a new system was off the table for 2026, especially because far less disruptive solutions exist.

I was wrong, apparently.

Last week, the House Blue Ribbon Committee on Election Administration, of which I am the only Democratic member, came out with its recommendation that the legislature should comply with SB 189 by transitioning to HMPB by July 2026. I opposed the recommendation.

My position is that regardless of where you stand in the machine vs HMPB debate, overhauling our voting system over a few months and in the middle of a major election cycle is epically irresponsible. Voters would pay the price. I discussed this as a guest on GPB’s Lawmakers. Check out the clip below.

It’s no coincidence that that Blue Ribbon Committee’s recommendation coincides with a big push by the Georgia GOP and the Trump administration to abandon the voting machines in favor of hand marked paper ballots for the November 2026 election cycle. That offers an explanation for why we see republican legislators trying to use the need to comply with SB 189 as pretextual justification for us to make that transition immediately, contrary to voters’ best interests and over the protests of election administrators.

Here’s the silver lining. An attempt to introduce a “QR code fix bill” last Monday didn’t see the light of day. Once folks caught wind that the bill required an overhaul of our current voting system as well as a hand count of millions of paper ballots, they showed up to the Capitol in droves to voice their opposition. Your voice mattered. And the committee listened, cancelling the hearing before the bad bill could be presented.

Now here’s what we need to watch out for. I believe we will see another “QR code fix bill” this week. I haven’t seen it yet to know the details, but to the extent it attempts to overhaul our system for this 2026 election cycle, we need you back at the Capitol to stand in firm opposition.

The reality is— and I’ve mentioned this before— there is no need for drastic measures. We can address the QR code issue responsibly without turning the system on its head in the middle of a major election year. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Also, on Saturday a federal court ordered the government to unseal the affidavit in support of the warrant that allowed for the FBI raid on Fulton. My suspicion is that whatever supposed evidence was offered has been thoroughly debunked. If that’s true, there is a question as to whether there was probable cause to execute the warrant. I’ll be watching this development closely. The deadline for the government to unseal the documents is Tuesday COB.

I have a few pieces of legislation that I’ve introduced this year.

HB 1174, the Federal Workforce Stability and Reemployment Priority Act, would provide retraining and other support for displaced federal employees.

HR 1033 would prohibit mid cycle redistricting unless ordered by a court.

HB 1221 is a consumer protection bill that would prevent the collection of unreasonable attorneys’ fees from a person who is late paying HOA fees.

If and when these bills move through the legislative process, I’ll get into more details. Anything I introduced last year is also still in play. You can see the entire list here under “Sponsored Legislation.”

As a reminder, it’s up to the majority party’s discretion which bills receive hearings and move through the legislative process, and which don’t. To change that dynamic, we’d need Democrats to take the majority in one or both chambers.

I love it when friends and constituents come to visit. Come see me next time you are at the Gold Dome!

Yours in service,