2018 General Election: Post-Election Ballot Tabulation Audit

Introduction

Following the 2018 General Election, this office conducted an automated post-election ballot tabulation audit, while each local board conducted a manual post-election ballot tabulation audit. These tabulation audits were conducted in accordance to HB1278 of the 2018 Legislative Session, which was codified into the Election Law Article, §11-309.

The purpose of these audits is to verify and confirm the accuracy of the voting system’s results. A post-election tabulation audit is not a canvass or a recount; it is used to verify that the voting system accurately tallied votes and that the winners of each contest were called correctly.

Click here for more information on the Post-Election Automated Tabulation Audit.

Click here for more information on the Post-Election Manual Tabulation Audit.

In accordance with § 2–1246 of the State Government Article, the State Board of Elections submitted a report to the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee that describes the resources required to complete the audit required under this Act following the 2018 general election. The report includes the amount of time needed to complete the audit, the number of personnel required to complete the audit, any other costs incurred by the State Board or the local boards of elections to complete the audit, and any other administrative obstacles to completing the audit. A copy of that report can be found here.