Colorado has become the first state in the country to complete a risk-limiting audit, or RLA, designed to catch mistakes when ballots are tabulated, and Moffat County was part of the successful test that garnered national interest. “It went really great — better than expected,” said Deputy Election Clerk Amanda Tomlinson. “The processes took over a year of preparation with the secretary of state and learning to use the RLA tool.” The RLA is a procedure that provides strong statistical evidence that an election outcome is correct and has a high probability of correcting an erroneous outcome. It requires humans to examine and verify more ballots in close races and fewer ballots in races with wide margins.
… The process attracted attention nationwide, with Matt Masterson, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and fellow commissioner Thomas Hicks among those who witnessed the procedure.
“Colorado is a national leader in exploring innovative solutions for accessible, secure and auditable elections,” Masterson said. “Colorado’s risk-limiting audit provided great insights into how to conduct more efficient and effective post-election audits. The EAC is eager to share some of the lessons learned with election officials across America.”
Full Article: Colorado, Moffat County first to complete new kind of election audit | CraigDailyPress.com.