September 10, 2024
Wisconsin Elections Commission
201 West Washington Avenue, Second Floor
Madison, WI 53703
Via email
2024 Post-Election Voting Equipment Audit
Dear Members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission:
On behalf of Verified Voting, I submit these comments on the Post-Election Voting Equipment Audit procedures in the November General Election Status Report, which was prepared for the September 11, 2024 Wisconsin Elections Commission meeting. Verified Voting is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen democracy for all voters by promoting the responsible use of technology in elections. We believe that the integrity and strength of our democracy rely on citizens’ trust that each vote is counted as cast.
Post-election tabulation audits provide an important check on voting system performance and provide crucial evidence that the ballots were tabulated correctly. We applaud the measures that Wisconsin has adopted in recent years to improve and expand its post-election voting equipment audits. Wisconsin took an important step in 2018 when it first moved to pre-certification audits. In 2020 and again in 2022, the Commission raised the cap on the number of reporting units larger municipalities were able to audit, making the audit more representative of the ballots cast in the election.
We would encourage the Commission to accept the proposed 2024 voting equipment audit procedures, which require that the audit of 10% of the state’s reporting units is completed prior to state certification of the election results. An interim audit report must also be presented to the Commission before certification. Auditing election results before they are finalized is key to addressing any discrepancies that the audit might uncover. For audits to effectively build trust in election results, it is also critical that audit results are published promptly upon audit completion.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments.
Respectfully submitted,
Chrissa LaPorte
Senior Policy & Technical Associate