State Election Commissioners Push Audits

" ....to make the public feel confident in our processes"

Will conducting audits after elections restore voter trust, as the State Board of Elections Commissioners has recommended to Arkansas counties? After the 2020 election results revealed numerous voter registration inconsistencies and continued reports of questionable absentee and mail-in voting problems across the country, it’s no wonder that Arkansas voters have concerns about paper ballots, unreadable bar codes, and voting machines being connected to the internet.

What can be done to restore trust in our election systems?

As one prong of a strategy to regain the trust of rightfully wary voters, election officials have pointed to predictable results from mandated L&A (logic and accuracy) testing, a system set up by the companies that make the election machines (in Arkansas that’s ES&S). Do you think an independent, outside company could achieve similar test results (if that were allowed)? How difficult would it be to design a test that gives you the result you seek, from the proprietary machinery you created? Not accusing here, just sayin’.

Another strategy emphasizes “audits,” in which the votes for one race from a specific voting machine are reviewed. Garland County Election Commission Chairman Gene Haley told KATV.com his county hopes to “reshape public trust by conducting audits,” and he cites the recommendation from State Board of Elections Commissioners as a driver:

"We've got a machine audit or machine count that we know is correct or we think is correct and we do an audit to show us that the count is correct," Haley said.

Haley said before they certify an election they do have at least one audit and after certification they perform multiple audits. He said this is the first time the county has done an audit in his 23 years working with the election commission.

Haley says “with the controversy following the 2020 elections” they want to regain the public's trust.

"It only makes sense to make the public feel confident in our processes so I believe most counties will," Haley said.

According to Haley, the state board in the last two elections randomly went to several different polling sites, audited 55,000 votes and only a few ballots were not counted.

“Only a few ballots were not counted” when they audited? If the “last 2 elections” are the 2022 primary and general elections, they checked just 4% of the 1,355,887 votes cast in 2022 elections. How many are the “only a few” ballots not counted?

What actions can restore your trust and make you feel certain that your vote is being accurately counted? We don’t think testing and/or these audits do the trick.