Audit to validate election outcomes from the 2022 General Election

Boulder County, Colo. – The public is invited to observe the Boulder County Election Division’s 2022 General Election risk-limiting audit (RLA) beginning on Saturday, November 19 along with other post-election certification activities, as detailed below

While 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 19 (see detailed schedule below)

Where: 1750 33^rd Street in Boulder; Please RSVP by Friday evening to Vote@BoulderCountyVotes.org 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 18 (online only) – 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. Online observation at 10 a.m. Friday (about 15 min process). See Secretary of State notice for link.
• Saturday, November 19 – 12:30 - 6 p.m. or until complete – Audit board kick-off, ballot pull, and conduct risk-limiting audit
• Sunday, November 20 – 11 a.m. (to complete) – This is a contingency day if audit is not completed on Saturday. Monday and Tuesday are also contingency days.
• Wednesday, November 30 – 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Canvass Board meeting (online only) – 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@BoulderCountyVotes.org by Tuesday, November 29 by 5 p.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 Thursday, December 1. Those results and canvass reports can be found on our website, www.BoulderCountyVotes.org.