Recommended Audit Procedures

Monday, 02 June 2008 00:00

CASE Ohio Reports

By Ohio Joint Audit Working Group (working with CASE Ohio)
This document on audit procedures was prepared to assist Ohio’s Secretary of State, election officials, and legislators as they consider directives and/or legislative action in 2008/2009 to institute post-election audit procedures. It follows up on broader post-election audit recommendations made in a white paper in Feb 2008.

Excerpts:

Post-election audits are an integral part of election best practices. Sufficiently thorough and efficient audits can allow for greatest participation while maximizing effectiveness with limited resources; and can help to verify that ballots have been correctly counted and accounted for.  Sufficiently transparent audits can foster public confidence by giving citizens the means to see for themselves whether election processes are working properly. At a time of rapid change in Ohio election technology and procedures, post-election audits constitute a crucial investment in election systems’ growth, reliability, and transparency. Past Ohio “partial recounts” have not inspired confidence; action is needed now to implement effective transparent audits for the 2008 general election and beyond.

We believe that

• Ohio should proceed expeditiously to plan post-election audits in 2008 and beyond.
• Timely decisions about the scope of the audits, and careful collaborative planning, willhelp  to assure transparent, efficient audits that merit public confidence.
• A post-election audit using the SAGE (Statistical Audits with Greater Efficiency)precinct selection method is practical and minimizes costs while maximizing effectiveness

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