Macon-area residents can try out Georgia’s new, paper-ballot voting machines Thursday during an open-house hosted by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Rep. Miriam Paris at City Hall.

“Come by anytime from 4:30 to 8 p.m. to test drive this cool new system and see how easy it is to vote with a paper ballot that is both secure and auditable – while also being just as user-friendly as our current voting machines,” Raffensperger said.

The new system replaces voting machines that Georgia has used since 2002. While the current touchscreen machines are popular with voters for their simplicity, it is time to move to updated technology that incorporates a paper ballot.

A major new safeguard is the addition of paper ballots as recounts will no longer rely solely on machine readouts, an improvement that Raffensperger campaigned on last year.

People coming by Thursday’s demonstration will be able to enter their choices on the new touchscreen machines in a mock election and then cast a paper ballot into one of the locked ballot boxes that will be used to secure actual ballots.

Without feeling rushed, they can experiment with write-in candidates and making corrections.

They can also see features on the new system that may make voting easier, such as switching to large print, having the machine present the ballot aloud and other accommodations for physical handicaps.

Officials will be on hand to register people to vote, change addresses and answer questions. They’ll also showcase Georgia’s mobile phone app so visitors can show their friends how to conveniently register to vote by smartphone, and Rep. James Beverly will also attend.

Georgia contracted with Dominion Voting Systems for the new system. Equipment will be delivered to every county in time for use in the presidential preference primary, March 24. More than 6,000 touchscreen machines have already arrived and undergone Georgia’s quality assurance testing.

Six counties are using the new system now as a pilot in municipal elections, plus a seventh county is voting on hand-marked paper ballots that will be counted by the new Dominion scanners.

Thursday’s demonstration is free and open to the public. City Hall is at 700 Poplar St., Macon.