(Oklahoma City) – The first post-election audits authorized under a 2019 law, 26 O.S. § 3-130, have been completed and the results are now available, State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax announced today. The post-election audits confirmed the accuracy of the June 28 primary elections.
A report on the post-election audits can be found on the State Election Board website.
Thirty-three (33) county election boards across the state conducted audits of randomly selected precincts and races from the June 28 Primary. The audits were conducted Thursday, July 28 and included Election Day ballots, mail absentee ballots, and in-person absentee (“early voting”) ballots. Thirty (30) counties audited a single race. Three counties audited two races each. The public was invited to attend.
“Post-election audits add an additional layer of transparency and security to Oklahoma elections and election officials are thankful that the State Legislature enacted a law to allow them,” State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax said. According to Ziriax, “Oklahoma has one of the most accurate and secure voting systems in the entire world. These post-election audits and the three recounts that followed the June 28 Primary Elections are the latest in a long line of evidence of that.”
Post-election audits were authorized by the State Legislature in 2019 with the passing of SB 261. The law defines a post-election audit as “a manual or electronic examination of a limited number of ballots by a secretary of a county election board or other authorized election officials following an election.” Post-elections audits were anticipated to begin in 2020, but were delayed due to the pandemic.
Post-election audits may be authorized by the Secretary of the State Election Board for the purpose of maintaining the security of the election system by ensuring that voting devices and software used in a particular election correctly tabulated the votes. By law, audit results cannot be used to change or alter certified election results.
URL Guide:
26 O.S. § 3-130: https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=485610
State Election Board Website: https://oklahoma.gov/elections/security-integrity/post-election-audits.html
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