For this first statewide RLA, the gubernatorial race was selected for review. The results of the sample mirrored the initially reported gubernatorial election results within a fraction of a percentage point, providing indisputable evidence of the accuracy of the original vote count.
To conduct this specific audit:
- Sixty-five counties created ballot manifests, which are spreadsheets showing the number of ballots counted for the contest and details on how the ballots are organized and stored. This collection of information allows batches of ballots to be identified, retrieved and examined if selected for the audit.
- After counties uploaded their ballot manifests to an open-source audit software tool called Arlo, Department of State staff generated a random 20-digit seed number during a livestreamed dice roll.
- That seed number was then entered into the audit software, which selected a random list of ballot batches for certain counties to retrieve. In total, 25 batches from 15 counties – a total of 10,209 ballots – were randomly chosen to be audited.
- The 15 selected counties retrieved the randomly selected batches of ballots and verified the vote cast for the gubernatorial contest on each ballot.
- The audit software system then tallied and analyzed the results.
A few slight variations in vote totals were found during the execution of this RLA. Variations found during such audits are typically the result of:
- human error when entering the audit results; or
- stray and unclear marks on the ballot, which lead to subjective decisions about a voter's intent.
Download detailed results of the 2022 General Election risk-limiting audit: 2022-audit-report-November-8-2022-General-Election.csv