Voting equipment used in Wisconsin elections is required to be audited after every General Election to ensure the accuracy of tabulation equipment using during that election. Wis. Stat. §7.08(6) is the state embodiment of §301(a)(5) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA): Enforcement of federal voting system standards. Following each general election, audit the performance of each voting system used in this state to determine the error rate of the system in counting ballots that are validly cast by electors. If the error rate exceeds the rate permitted under standards of the federal election commission in effect on October 29, 2002, the commission shall take remedial action and order remedial action to be taken by affected counties and municipalities to ensure compliance with the standards. Each county and municipality shall comply with any order received under this subsection.
Races Selected for Audit
- Governor/ Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Representative to the Assembly
CLERKS: Please do NOT begin your audit until it is known whether there will be a recount for any of the contests!
WEC has provided the following resources to be used when conducting your audit:
- A sample audit public notice: The voting equipment audit should be conducted as part of a public meeting and should be noticed accordingly. A sample notice has been provided that you can customize for your use. A copy of the notice should also be sent to @email.
- Audit Instructions: Detailed instructions and guidelines are provided that walk you through the audit process and provide guidance on how to use the tally sheet and reporting form.
- Training presentation: A webinar was offered November 10 and the recording is posted below for use by auditors before starting the process. Please send any questions you may have about the procedures to @email.
- Tally sheet: The auditors will use the tally sheet when auditing each contest.
- Reporting form: This form is used after the votes for each audited contest have been tallied by two independent auditors and it has been determined the audit totals match each other. Auditors will use the reporting form to compare the audit totals to the results from the voting equipment and report and explain any errors as defined below.
- Voting equipment audit reimbursement form: You can use this form to document your audit costs. WEC will reimburse a municipality for each reporting unit audited at a rate of $50 in base fees and $.35 (thirty-five cents) per ballot audited. Please submit all reimbursement request forms and questions to @email.