www.georgia-elections.com

Without a copy of the original image, it is impossible to "hack" a QR Code.  Here's why.

A QR Code is very similar to a bar code that you use to scan your groceries or make a purchase at any self-service kiosk.  The "QR" stands for Quick Response because a computer can read it very quickly.

Regardless of people you have heard to claim that they invented the QR Code, it is generally accepted by all that the QR Code was invented by the Japanese company Denso Waves in 1994.  It's purpose was to track vehicle components very quickly while the cars  were being manufactured.  

The QR Code can store up to 7,089 numerical characters and between 23,624 and 31,326 bits depending on the type of QR Code.  Since each bit has two states, the number of bits is either 23,624 squared or 31,326 squared.

If a hacker has the original QR Code, they can reverse engineer it and alter it to their own purposes.  That's why hackers are starting to target restaurants that use QR Codes for their menus.  The hackers START with a copy of the QR Code.  The people who construct ballots for the State of Georgia know this and take extraordinary precautions to keep the original QR Code constructions secure.

If the hacker does not have the original QR Code, it is impossible for the hacker to "hack" the QR Code.  The reason for this is that they would have to make 2^ 23,264 (which means 23,264 squared) correct choices to guess just one possible ballot combination.  

But as you might remember from math class, the term factorial is used to describe easily the number of possible combinations of a series of numbers.  Thus, three numbers have six possible combinations.  That's 3 Factorial or 3!. 3 x 2 x 1 = 6.  (And here are the six possible combinations: 1,2,3; 1,3,2; 2,1,3; 2,3,1; 3,1,2; and 3,2,1).  Ten numbers can be arranged in 10! (10 Factorial) possible combinations which equals 3,628,000 ways (10 x 9 x 8 x7 x 6 x 5 x 4 3 x 2 x 1).

Thus, 23,264 squared bits can be arranged in  23,264 squared factorial possible combinations (or 2^23,264!)  I don't care what expert you ask, that's a astronomical number.  The chances of guessing that correctly according to one website is, at a minimum, 1 in 34 with 7011 zeros following the 34.  So, to get one QR Code right, the hacker would have to guess correctly 23,264 squared factorial times without a wrong guess a single time.

That's just for one precinct.  Since each precinct has a unique set of candidates for a unique set of races, the hacker could only hack one precinct at a time.  You couldn't just hack the QR Code one time for a state wide race because each precinct still has other races.  The only time the ballot is the same is where there is only one candidate on the ballot in one race (like an uncontested presidential primary with only that race) and who would want to hack that?

Georgia citizens can be confident in their election systems in that there is a very sophisticated process by which the ballots and the QR Codes are constructed and secured.  The ballots are constructed in a non-descript building with tight security on computers in secure offices that have no internet access.  The ballots, once constructed, are sent to the counties under tight security and lock and key where the county, upon receipt, has to call with an identifying code (like you have to do when you log onto your 401-k account) that they have to correctly give to the Ballot Construction Team upon which time, they are given another code to open the container.  Every credible computer expert agrees that such "two factor authentication" is the safest,   The QR Codes and the passwords and the flash drives on which the constructed ballots are contained are only used once.  Therefore the leak of a password or the stealing of a flash drive after the election is worthless. for any future elections.

Finally, AFTER the election takes place, the QR Codes are examined for hacking during the post-election Risk Limiting Audit.  Ballots are selected by a complicated process to insure their selection is random at which time humans count the ballots one by one and then the ballots are run through the machines for tabulation and the results are compared.  If the results are not the same, everyone is on high alert for trouble and an immediate investigation starts on the spot.