The bill amends Section 17-19-37.4 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-19, which is related to the conduct of elections and voting equipment and supplies, to include provisions for post-election risk-limiting audits. The bill emphasizes the importance of auditing election results to ensure effective election administration and to maintain public confidence in the election outcomes. It specifies that risk-limiting audits are more efficient than traditional methods, particularly in terms of resource allocation, as they require fewer resources for contests with wide margins and more for closer contests.

The bill outlines that starting in 2018, the board, in conjunction with local boards, is authorized to conduct risk-limiting audits after all primary, general, and special elections, with the requirement extended to presidential preference primaries and general elections starting in 2020. The bill includes insertions and deletions to the existing law, such as changing "statewide" to "state," indicating an expansion of the types of contests subject to risk-limiting audits. The bill also details the procedures for conducting the audits, including public reporting and manual tallying of votes, and specifies that the results of the audits must be published on the state board's website within 48 hours of acceptance. The bill would take effect upon passage and includes provisions for the state board to establish necessary rules and regulations to implement the section.

Statutes affected:
7328: 17-19-37.4