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Our petition asks that election officials double-check the electronic results by conducting a “risk-limiting” audit of the presidential election in every state that uses paper ballots. Please sign here. |
An important part of our mission is advocating for the adoption of audits following every election as a standard, best practice. Audits are relatively inexpensive and give a level of assurance that an election result is valid. Audits examine voter intent on ballots and check to see if it concurs with vote counts. Audits are endorsed by the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, Common Cause, League of Women Voters, the American Statistical Association, and others.
Regular audits are conducted in a number of states, but not all audits are created equal. For example, Minnesota, California, New Mexico, Missouri and several other states conduct audits which check a fixed percentage of machines or precincts statewide, to assess how machines are functioning. Other states conduct audits that do check election processes, but not equipment performance or vote tabulation. Still other states, like Georgia and Louisiana, can’t conduct audits at all because their voting is done on paperless voting machines. For information on which states conduct audits, click here.
We advocate for a more robust form of audits, called “Risk Limiting”. This means that if the machine-reported count is incorrect, there is a large, pre-specified chance that the audit will reveal the correct outcome. In order to truly validate the outcome of this or any election, Risk Limiting Audits should be conducted as a core part of the electoral process. Risk Limiting Audits for this Presidential election could validate the results or identify any areas of concern.
All elections are important and should be audited every time. Audits don’t rely on a candidate-requested recount or a narrow margin. Because of the many concerns that have been raised in this election year, including breaches of voter registration databases, we think this is a time when the entire country should step forward and request this simple step to make sure that the election results truly represent the will of the American people.
We are sponsoring a petition that is directed at election officials, Secretaries of State and state governments. We ask that they show leadership in a time of uncertainty. We applaud states already doing an audit, but it should happen nationwide. We can start here. Sign the petition today and share it on social media.
Best Regards,
Pamela Smith
P.S. #GivingTuesday is coming up on November 29. Watch for our email reminder. If you would like to make a gift at this time, click here. Thank you for supporting Verified Voting.
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