Publication Summary

You don’t need to be a math expert to talk about risk-limiting audits. Use our messaging guide to talk about RLAs to your constituents, the press, and other key stakeholders.

Basic Terminology:

• Tabulation audit – Provides a routine check on the accuracy of the tabulation of votes by manually comparing voter-verifiable paper ballots to the computer-reported results.
• Risk-limiting audit – A specific type of tabulation audit that checks a random sample of voter-verifiable paper ballots. RLAs can give strong assurance that the reported outcome is what a full hand count would find.
• Risk-limiting audit pilot – RLA pilots help election officials learn how to prepare for RLAs in larger elections, and show the general public that the process is observable and transparent.
• Risk limit – The “risk limit” describes the chance that the audit is wrong. For instance, a 5% risk limit means that if the election outcome is wrong, the chance that the audit will mistakenly confirm it is 5% or less. We usually avoid these specifics with a general audience.
• Recount – A full recount means counting all of the ballots, while an audit only entails counting some of the ballots. Post-election audits that detect errors can lead to a full recount if the outcome is in doubt.
• Sample size & margin of victory – Close contests, where the winner’s margin of victory is small, require looking at larger samples of ballots to check the outcome.

Who Else Endorses RLAs – A Non-Exhaustive List:

• American Statistical Association
• U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee
• U.S. Election Assistance Commission
• Brennan Center for Justice
• Common Cause
• League of Women Voters
• Presidential Commission on Election Administration

 RLA Keywords:

• Gold standard
• Statistically sound
• Efficient
• Cost-effective
• A tailored approach

 What can you say about an RLA?

• An RLA provides solid evidence that the reported election outcomes are correct.
• An RLA can also trigger a full hand recount if the sampled ballots do not match the reported outcome.
• An RLA promotes public confidence in election outcomes and public confidence in our democracy.
• An RLA checks that the ballots were counted accurately.
• RLAs are transparent and observable by the public.
• An RLA is a tool for election officials.

What can’t you say about an RLA?

Because RLAs rely on the ballots, they can only do so much. They can’t do the following: 

• Establish that the voting system is inherently secure and reliable.
• Confirm that voter intent was recorded accurately.
• Show that voters were not disenfranchised.

Read more about audits and RLAs at:

www.verifiedvoting.org/audits

https://verifiedvoting.org/audits/whatisrla/

 

Questions? Feedback?

Contact Verified Voting Communications Officer Corrie Emerson at corrie@verifiedvoting.org.