The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel recommends checking election results using "risk-limiting audits," invented by Prof. Philip B. Stark.

The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine panel recommends checking election results using "risk-limiting audits," invented by Prof. Philip B. Stark.

Risk-limiting audits are endorsed by the American Statistical Association, the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, the League of Women Voters, Verified Voting, and other election integrity groups. Colorado was the first state to require risk-limiting audits, which are also in law in California and Rhode Island, and have been tested in Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and Denmark. Prof. Stark serves on the Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

From the news release:

States should mandate a specific type of audit known as a “risk-limiting” audit prior to the certification of election results. By examining a statistically appropriate random sample of paper ballots, risk-limiting audits can determine with a high level of confidence whether a reported election outcome reflects a correct tabulation of the votes cast. Risk-limiting audits offer a high probability that any incorrect outcome can be detected, and they do so with statistical efficiency; a risk-limiting audit performed on an election with tens of millions of ballots may require examination by hand of as few as several hundred randomly selected paper ballots. States should begin with pilot programs of risk-limiting audits and fully implement these audits for all federal and state election contests – and local contests where feasible – within a decade.

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