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EAC unveils draft principles to professionalize election audits; panelists urge piloting and transparency
Summary
The Election Assistance Commission released draft, high-level principles to guide state and local election audits, with panelists from Colorado, Rhode Island, Florida and others urging flexible, piloted approaches, public observation and clearer evidence standards to boost voter confidence.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission released draft, high-level principles intended to professionalize election audits and provide flexible guidance for jurisdictions of varying sizes and resources. Monica Childers, senior election subject matter expert at the EAC, described the document as "a clear framework to help election administrators conduct audits with confidence, integrity and objectivity," and said the agency will publish the draft for public comment in the Federal Register.
Why it matters: Commissioners and state officials told the EAC that consistent terminology, an evidence hierarchy and clear guidance on independence could help election offices communicate audit results and build public trust. "Audits communicate trust," Commissioner Ben Hovland said, arguing that documented, professional audits make it easier for officials to explain what went well and what needs improvement.
Panelists offered practical lessons from states that have piloted different audit approaches. Pam Anderson, drawing on Colorado experience, said tabulation audits and risk-limiting audits developed over years alongside a public push for paper records: "An election is an accounting project," she said, and emphasized piloting, public observation and independence in audit work. Miguel Nunez described Rhode Island's multi-year pilot that brought in university partners and national experts to test sampling, counting and timing methods before statewide rollout: "We piloted all of them," he said, recounting the state's stepwise implementation of RLAs.
Florida and Mississippi offered contrasting lessons. Mark Earley, Leon County supervisor of elections, described Florida's more resource-intensive approaches, including use of an independent second tabulation system in some counties, but warned that staffing, funding and space constraints limit how broadly such systems can be adopted. Kyle Kirkpatrick said Mississippi favored procedural audits that target operational pain points such as absentee procedures and documentation to catch issues earlier and avoid litigation.
Panelists agreed on several recurring themes: (1) adapt principles to local context rather than adopt a single prescriptive method; (2) pilot new methods across jurisdictions of different sizes; (3) prioritize an evidence hierarchy (independent re-tabulation or external confirmation carries more weight than internal checks); and (4) communicate results with context so the public understands which findings affect outcomes and which do not.
Quotes that capture the debate include Bill Kresse, who urged certified reviewers as information intermediaries: "If audited by certified election auditors, this would increase people's confidence," and Ricky Hatch, who emphasized evidence robustness and segregation of duties as key operational controls.
The EAC said the draft principles will be published for public comment and that the agency welcomes pilot programs that can inform future guidance. Next steps include public comment on the draft Federal Register notice and targeted outreach to jurisdictions willing to pilot the principles.
Provenance: the article synthesizes opening remarks and the first panel on the EAC draft principles and state experiences (topic introduction at SEG 117; last related discussion at SEG 198).
