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 new provisions for post-election audits. The bill emphasizes the importance of auditing election results to ensure effective election administration and public confidence. It mandates risk-limiting audits after all statewide primary, general, and special elections starting in 2018, and after presidential preference primary and general elections starting in 2020. The audit process involves the state board determining which contests are subject to an audit, providing public notice, making vote-tabulating device results available before the audit, conducting the audit in public view, and replacing the vote counts with manual tally results if necessary. The bill defines terms such as "audit unit," "contest," and "risk-limiting audit," and specifies that audit results must be published on the state board's website within 48 hours of acceptance.

Additionally, the bill introduces a new audit procedure for mail ballot voter signature verification accuracy before the certification of election results. The board of elections is required to conduct a post-election risk-limiting audit of the signatures on mail ballot envelopes for selected contests. If the audit reveals that the number of incorrectly verified signatures exceeds the margin of victory in the selected contest, a new special election must be held for that contest before its results are certified. The state board is tasked with promulgating necessary rules, regulations, and procedures to implement these provisions. The act would take effect upon passage and also includes a focus on the verification of voter signatures on mail ballots as a new aspect of the post-election risk-limiting audit.

Statutes affected:
7392: 17-19-37.4