Audit to check election outcomes from the 2024 Presidential Primary Election

Boulder County – The public is invited to observe the Boulder County Election Division’s 2024 Presidential Primary Election risk-limiting audit (RLA) beginning on Tuesday, March 19 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 Tuesday, March 19 (see detailed schedule below)

Where: 1750 33^rd Street in Boulder; Please RSVP by Monday 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:

• Monday, March 18 (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.
• Tuesday, March 19 – 12:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. or until complete – Audit board kick-off, ballot pull, and conduct risk-limiting audit, Round 1; Wednesday (contingency day) and Thursday at 8 a.m. (if Round 2 of audit is needed)
• Thursday, March 21 – 2:00-3:15 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 for both mail and in-person ballots. This data is also summarized in the Reconciliation Report. RSVP to Vote@BoulderCounty.gov by Thursday, March 21 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 on the website, BoulderCountyVotes.gov, by the end of the day on Friday, March 22, though the date is subject to change.