This bill amends Section 17-19-37.4 of the General Laws to require risk-limiting audits after all statewide primary, general, and special elections, as well as the presidential preference primary and general elections. The state board, in conjunction with local boards, will conduct the audits by manually tallying the ballots according to rules established by the state board. If a risk-limiting audit leads to a full manual tally of the ballots, the vote counts from the manual tally will replace the reported vote counts for determining the official contest results. The results of the audits will be published on the state board's website within 48 hours.

Additionally, the bill adds a new provision for a post-election risk-limiting audit of the mail ballot voter signature verification accuracy. The board of elections will conduct this audit before certifying the election results, and if the audit reveals that the number of signatures on the mail ballot envelopes that should not have been verified exceeds the margin of victory in the selected contest, a new special election will be held for that contest before certifying the results. The state board will promulgate rules, regulations, and procedures to implement these audit requirements. The bill will take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
5385: 17-19-37.4