Audit to check election outcomes from the 2023 Coordinated Election

Boulder County, Colo. – The public is invited to observe the Boulder County Election Division’s 2023 Coordinated Election risk-limiting audit (RLA) beginning on Saturday, November 18 along with other post-election certification activities, as detailed below.

While Boulder County and all Colorado counties have conducted post-election audits since 2005, a risk-limiting audit is considered the “gold standard” test of election results. Colorado has been conducting risk-limiting audits since 2017 and was the first state in the nation to conduct a statewide version.

What: Boulder County Risk-Limiting Audit

When: Starting Saturday, November 18. (see detailed schedule below)

Where: 1750 33^rd Street in Boulder; Please RSVP by Thursday evening to Vote@BoulderCounty.gov as space is limited; Check in at the Ballot Processing Center

The risk-limiting audit is a test that helps ensure the accuracy of election results and provides the public with evidence that election outcomes reflect the votes cast by voters on their ballots. To ensure tabulation was accurate, the process reviews how a ballot’s votes were captured at the time it was processed by comparing a sample of paper ballots with digital tallies. To learn more about risk-limiting audits, see the Secretary of State’s FAQs on the RLA.

The software that facilitates the risk-limiting audit at the state level is open source, meaning anyone can examine the code themselves and other states are welcome to learn from or build upon it.

Detailed Schedule plus other activities and Canvass RSVP information:

• Friday, November 17 (online only) – 10 a.m. – Secretary of State’s office provides high-level background on RLA and establishes random seed, which provides the basis for determining which random ballots to pull and audit. (about 15 min process). See Secretary of State notice for link.
• Saturday, November 18 – 12:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. or until complete – Audit board kick-off, ballot pull, and conduct risk-limiting audit, Round 1.
• Monday, November 20 – 8:00 a.m. – Until Complete – Conduct the Ranked Choice Audit.
• Tuesday, November 21 – 8:00 a.m. – Until Complete – Ballot pull and conduct the risk-limiting audit, Round 2 (if applicable).
• Tuesday, November 28 – 1:00 – 2:15 p.m. - Canvass Board meeting (final presentation and signoff of election) – During the meeting, staff presents data that provides evidence to certify the election. This includes voter registration changes during the election and election results including ballots received versus ballots counted, including mail ballots and in-person ballots. This data is also summarized in the Reconciliation Report. RSVP to Vote@BoulderCounty.gov by Tuesday, November 28 by 10 a.m. to get link to view.

Complete risk-limiting audit details and data will be available on the Secretary of State’s Audit Center after the audit is complete.

The Boulder County Elections Division expects to post complete and official election results and related documentation at the end of the day on Tuesday, November 28, though the date is subject to change.