Counted ballot audits

AN ACT Relating to the conduct of limited audits of counted 1
ballots during the election certification period; amending RCW 2
29A.60.125, 29A.60.185, 29A.60.170, and 29A.04.611; and adding new 3
sections to chapter 29A.60 RCW. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
Sec. 1. RCW 29A.60.125 and 2018 c 218 s 8 are each amended to 6
read as follows: 7
(1) If inspection of the ballot reveals a physically damaged 8
ballot or ballot that may be otherwise unreadable or uncountable by 9
the tabulating system, the county auditor may refer the ballot to the 10
county canvassing board or duplicate the ballot if so authorized by 11
the county canvassing board. The voter's original ballot may not be 12
altered. A ballot may be duplicated only if the intent of the voter's 13
marks on the ballot is clear and the electronic voting equipment 14
might not otherwise properly tally the ballot to reflect the intent 15
of the voter. Ballots must be duplicated by teams of two or more 16
people working together. When duplicating ballots, the county auditor 17
shall take the following steps to create and maintain an audit trail 18
of the action taken: 19
(((1))) (a) Each original ballot and duplicate ballot must be 20
assigned the same unique control number, with the number being marked 21
Z-0109.2
HOUSE BILL 1030
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Low, Mena, Eslick, Reeves, and Hill; by request of
Secretary of State
Prefiled 12/10/24. Read first time 01/13/25. Referred to Committee
on State Government & Tribal Relations.
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upon the face of each ballot, to ensure that each duplicate ballot 1
may be tied back to the original ballot; 2
(((2))) (b) A log must be kept of the ballots duplicated, which 3
must at least include: 4
(((a))) (i) The control number of each original ballot and the 5
corresponding duplicate ballot; 6
(((b))) (ii) The initials of at least two people who participated 7
in the duplication of each ballot; and 8
(((c))) (iii) The total number of ballots duplicated((.)); and9
(c) Original and duplicate ballots must be sealed in secure 10
storage at all times, except during duplication, inspection by the 11
canvassing board, tabulation, or to conduct an audit under RCW 12
29A.60.185. 13
(2) Prior to certification of the election as required by RCW 14
29A.60.190, the county auditor shall conduct an audit of ballots 15
duplicated under this section. The audit of duplicated ballots must 16
involve a comparison of the duplicated ballot to the original ballot. 17
The county canvassing board must establish procedures for auditing 18
duplicated ballots.19
Sec. 2. RCW 29A.60.185 and 2018 c 218 s 2 are each amended to 20
read as follows: 21
(((1) Prior to certification of the election as required by RCW 22
29A.60.190, the county auditor shall conduct an audit of duplicated 23
ballots in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, and an 24
audit using at minimum one of the following methods:25
(a) An audit of results of votes cast on the direct recording 26
electronic voting devices, or other in-person ballot marking systems, 27
used in the county if there are races or issues with more than ten 28
votes cast on all direct recording electronic voting devices or other 29
in-person ballot marking systems in the county. This audit must be 30
conducted by randomly selecting by lot up to four percent of the 31
direct recording electronic voting devices or other in-person ballot 32
marking systems, or one direct recording electronic voting device or 33
other in-person ballot marking system, whichever is greater, and, for 34
each device or system, comparing the results recorded electronically 35
with the results recorded on paper. For purposes of this audit, the 36
results recorded on paper must be tabulated as follows: On one-fourth 37
of the devices or systems selected for audit, the paper records must 38
be tabulated manually; on the remaining devices or systems, the paper 39
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records may be tabulated by a mechanical device determined by the 1
secretary of state to be capable of accurately reading the votes cast 2
and printed thereon and qualified for use in the state under 3
applicable state and federal laws. Three races or issues, randomly 4
selected by lot, must be audited on each device or system. This audit 5
procedure must be subject to observation by political party 6
representatives if representatives have been appointed and are 7
present at the time of the audit. As used in this subsection, "in-8
person ballot marking system" or "system" means an in-person ballot 9
marking system that retains or produces an electronic voting record 10
of each vote cast using the system; 11
(b) A random check of the ballot counting equipment consistent 12
with RCW 29A.60.170(3);13
(c) A risk-limiting audit. A "risk-limiting audit" means an audit 14
protocol that makes use of statistical principles and methods and is 15
designed to limit the risk of certifying an incorrect election 16
outcome. The secretary of state shall:17
(i) Set the risk limit. A "risk limit" means the largest 18
statistical probability that an incorrect reported tabulation outcome 19
is not detected in a risk-limiting audit;20
(ii) Randomly select for audit at least one statewide contest, 21
and for each county at least one ballot contest other than the 22
selected statewide contest. The county auditor shall randomly select 23
a ballot contest for audit if in any particular election there is no 24
statewide contest; and25
(iii) Establish procedures for implementation of risk-limiting 26
audits, including random selection of the audit sample, determination 27
of audit size, and procedures for a comparison risk-limiting audit 28
and ballot polling risk-limiting audit as defined in (c)(iii)(A) and 29
(B) of this subsection.30
(A) In a comparison risk-limiting audit, the county auditor 31
compares the voter markings on randomly selected ballots to the 32
ballot-level cast vote record produced by the ballot counting 33
equipment.34
(B) In a ballot polling risk-limiting audit, the county auditor 35
of a county using ballot counting equipment that does not produce 36
ballot-level cast vote records reports the voter markings on randomly 37
selected ballots until the prespecified risk limit is met; or38
(d) An independent electronic audit of the original ballot 39
counting equipment used in the county. The county auditor may either 40
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conduct an audit of all ballots cast, or limit the audit to three 1
precincts or six batches pursuant to procedures adopted under RCW 2
29A.60.170(3). This audit must be conducted using an independent 3
electronic audit system that is, at minimum: 4
(i) Approved by the secretary of state;5
(ii) Completely independent from all voting systems, including 6
ballot counting equipment, that is used in the county;7
(iii) Distributed or manufactured by a vendor different from the 8
vendor that distributed or manufactured the original ballot counting 9
equipment; and10
(iv) Capable of demonstrating that it can verify and confirm the 11
accuracy of the original ballot counting equipment's reported 12
results.13
(2) Prior to certification of the election, the county auditor 14
must conduct an audit of ballots duplicated under RCW 29A.60.125. The 15
audit of duplicated ballots must involve a comparison of the 16
duplicated ballot to the original ballot. The county canvassing board 17
must establish procedures for the auditing of duplicated ballots.18
(3) For each audit method, the secretary of state must adopt 19
procedures for expanding the audit to include additional ballots when 20
an audit results in a discrepancy. The procedure must specify under 21
what circumstances a discrepancy will lead to an audit of additional 22
ballots, and the method to determine how many additional ballots will 23
be selected. The secretary of state shall adopt procedures to 24
investigate the cause of any discrepancy found during an audit.25
(4) The secretary of state must establish rules by January 1, 26
2019, to implement and administer the auditing methods in this 27
section, including facilitating public observation and reporting 28
requirements.)) Prior to certification of the election as required by 29
RCW 29A.60.190, the county auditor shall conduct an audit using at 30
minimum one of the following methods:31
(1) A limited hand-count audit of randomly selected precincts or 32
batches of ballots to confirm the results of the ballot counting 33
equipment consistent with section 3 of this act; or34
(2) A risk-limiting audit as defined in section 4 of this act.35
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 36
RCW to read as follows: 37
A limited hand-count of randomly selected precincts or batches of 38
ballots to confirm the accuracy of the ballot counting equipment may 39
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be conducted at the discretion of the county auditor. If political 1
party observers are present, they must be permitted to observe the 2
limited hand-count audit. 3
(1) The county canvassing board must adopt procedures for the 4
limited hand-count audit consistent with rules adopted under RCW 5
29A.04.611, consistent with RCW 29A.64.021 concerning mandatory 6
recounts prior to the processing of ballots. 7
(2) The limited hand-count audit must involve a comparison of a 8
manual count of ballots to the results for the selected precincts or 9
batches recorded by the original ballot counting equipment. The audit 10
must include at least one precinct or two batches per ballot scanner 11
depending on the ballot counting procedures in place in the county. 12
More precincts or batches can be selected at the discretion of the 13
county auditor. The hand-count audit is limited to one office or 14
issue on the ballots in the precincts or batches that are selected 15
for the audit. The selection of the precincts or batches to be 16
audited must be randomly selected according to procedures established 17
by the county canvassing board. 18
(3) The limited hand-count procedures adopted pursuant to 19
subsection (1) of this section must include a process, consistent 20
with rules adopted under RCW 29A.04.611, for expanding the audit to 21
include additional ballots when a random check conducted under this 22
section results in an unresolvable discrepancy. The procedure must 23
specify under what circumstances a discrepancy will lead to an audit 24
of additional ballots and the method to determine how many additional 25
ballots will be selected. The manual tally process must be completed 26
no later than 72 hours after election day. 27
(4) The results of the limited hand-count audit must be reported 28
to the secretary of state within three business days of completion.29
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 30
RCW to read as follows: 31
(1) At the discretion of the county auditor, or secretary of 32
state, audits may be conducted to confirm the outcome of an election 33
employing a defined "risk limit." The risk-limiting audit confirms 34
that the election outcome reported by the ballot counting system is 35
correct to a desired confidence level. The risk limit must be defined 36
in rule by the secretary of state using best available standards and 37
statistical analysis. 38
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(2) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 1
section, section 5 of this act, and RCW 29A.04.611 unless the context 2
clearly requires otherwise. 3
(a) "Ballot comparison risk-limiting audit" is the comparison of 4
voter markings on randomly selected ballots with the ballot-level 5
cast vote record produced by the ballot counting equipment until the 6
prespecified risk limit is met. 7
(b) "Ballot polling risk-limiting audit" involves the selection 8
of a random sample of ballots for hand counting for a selected 9
contest. The voter markings on randomly selected ballots are examined 10
and reported until the sample meets the prespecified risk limit.11
(c) "Batch comparison risk-limiting audit" involves the selection 12
of a random sample of batches of ballots for hand counting for a 13
selected contest. The voter markings on all ballots in the randomly 14
selected batches are examined and reported until the sample meets the 15
prespecified risk limit. 16
(d) "Cast vote record" means a physical or electronic record of 17
the choices of an individual voter in a particular primary, general 18
election, or special election. Cast vote records must be treated in 19
the same manner as voted physical ballots and must be securely 20
handled and stored with the same privacy and security as voted 21
physical ballots and are not subject to public disclosure.22
(e) "Risk limit" means the largest statistical probability that 23
an incorrect reported tabulation outcome is not detected by a risk-24
limiting audit. 25
(f) "Risk-limiting audit" means an audit protocol that uses 26
statistical principles and methods and is intended to limit the risk 27
of certifying an incorrect election outcome. 28
(3) A county conducting a risk-limiting audit must use software 29
or processes approved by the secretary of state and independent of 30
the voting system used by the county. 31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 29A.60 32
RCW to read as follows: 33
(1) At such time that the ballot counting systems in all counties 34
are capable of conducting a ballot comparison risk-limiting audit, 35
the secretary of state may choose to conduct a ballot comparison 36
risk-limiting audit on an issue or office that files with the 37
secretary of state under RCW 29A.24.070 or chapter 29A.72 RCW.38
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(2) A state risk-limiting audit must be conducted in a manner 1
consistent with rules adopted under RCW 29A.04.611. The secretary of 2
state shall: 3
(a) Coordinate the reporting and compilation of results from the 4
counties; and 5
(b) Report the results of the audit. 6
(3) For each county employing a ballot counting system capable of 7
conducting a comparison risk-limiting audit, at the county auditor's 8
discretion, the county auditor may randomly select at least one 9
ballot contest contained within that county to perform a comparison 10
risk-limiting audit. The audit must be conducted in a manner 11
consistent with rules adopted under RCW 29A.04.611.12
(4) In addition to the randomly selected contest or contests and 13
in coordination with the secretary of state's office, counties may 14
choose to conduct a risk-limiting audit of a shared district if all 15
counties represented by the district agree to participate. The audit 16
must be conducted in a manner consistent with rules adopted under RCW 17
29A.04.611. 18
Sec. 6. RCW 29A.60.170 and 2018 c 218 s 3 are each amended to 19
read as follows: 20
(1) At least ((twenty-eight)) 28 days prior to any special 21
election, general election, or primary, the county auditor shall 22
request from the chair of the county central committee of each major 23
political party a list of individuals who are willing to serve as 24
observers. The county auditor has discretion to also request 25
observers from any campaign or organization. The county auditor may 26
delete from the lists names of those persons who indicate to the 27
county auditor that they cannot or do not wish to serve as observers, 28
and names of those persons who, in the judgment of the county 29
auditor, lack the ability to properly serve as observers after 30
training has been made available to them by the auditor.31
(2) The counting center is under the direction of the county 32
auditor and must be open to observation by one representative from 33
each major political party, if representatives have been appointed by 34
the respective major political parties and these representatives are 35
present while the counting center is operating. The proceedings must 36
be open to the public, but no persons except those employed and 37
authorized by the county auditor may touch any ballot or ballot 38
container or operate a vote tallying system. 39
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(((3) A random check of the ballot counting equipment must be 1
conducted upon mutual agreement of the political party observers or 2
at the discretion of the county auditor. The random check procedures 3
must be adopted by the county canvassing board, and consistent with 4
rules adopted under RCW 29A.60.185(4), prior to the processing of 5
ballots. The random check process shall involve a comparison of a 6
manual count or electronic count if an audit under RCW 7
29A.60.185(1)(d) is conducted to the machine count from the original 8
ballot counting equipment and may involve up to either three 9
precincts or six batches depending on the ballot counting procedures 10
in place in the county. The random check will be limited to one 11
office or issue on the ballots in the precincts or batches that are 12
selected for the check. The selection of the precincts or batches to 13
be checked must be selected according to procedures established by 14
the county canvassing board. The random check procedures must include 15
a process, consistent with RCW 29A.60.185(3) and rules adopted under 16
RCW 29A.60.185(4), for expanding the audit to include additional 17
ballots when a random check conducted under this section results in a 18
discrepancy. The procedure must specify under what circumstances a 19
discrepancy will lead to an audit of additional ballots and the 20
method to determine how many additional ballots will be selected. 21
Procedures adopted under RCW 29A.60.185 pertaining to investigations 22
of any discrepancy found during an audit must be followed. The check 23
must be completed no later than forty-eight hours after election day.24
(4)(a) By November 1, 2018, the secretary of state shall:25
(i) For each county, survey all random check procedures adopted 26
by the county canvassing board under subsection (3) of this section; 27
and28
(ii) Evaluate the procedures to identify the best practices and 29
any discrepancies.30
(b) By December 15, 2018, the secretary of state shall submit a 31
report, in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, to the appropriate 32
committees of the legislature that provides recommendations, based on 33
the evaluation performed under (a) of this subsection, for adopting 34
best practices and uniform procedures.))35
Sec. 7. RCW 29A.04.611 and 2023 c 466 s 32 are each amended to 36
read as follows: 37
The secretary of state as chief election officer shall make 38
reasonable rules in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW not 39
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inconsistent with the federal and state election laws to effectuate 1
any provision of this title and to facilitate the execution of its 2
provisions in an orderly, timely, and uniform manner relating to any 3
federal, state, county, city, town, and district elections. To that 4
end the secretary shall assist local election officers by devising 5
uniform forms and procedures. 6
In addition to the rule-making authority granted otherwise by 7
this section, the secretary of state shall make rules governing the 8
following provisions: 9
(1) The maintenance of voter registration records;10
(2) The preparation, maintenance, distribution, review, and 11
filing of precinct maps; 12
(3) Standards for the design, layout, and production of ballots;13
(4) The examination ((and)), testing, approval, and certification 14
of voting systems and vote tallying software for ((certification)) 15
use in all elections; 16
(5) The source and scope of independent evaluations of voting 17
systems that may be relied upon in certifying voting systems for use 18
in this state; 19
(6) Standards and procedures for the acceptance testing of voting 20
systems by counties; 21
(7) Standards and procedures for testing the programming of vote 22
tallying software for specific primaries and elections;23
(8) Standards and procedures for the preparation and use of each 24
type of certified voting system including procedures for the 25
operation of counting centers where vote tallying systems are used;26
(9) Standards and procedures to ensure the accurate tabulation 27
and canvassing of ballots; 28
(10) Standards and procedures for each postelection audit method 29
including procedures for:30
(a) Random selection of an audit sample;31
(b) Determination of audit size;32
(c) Comparison risk-limiting audits;33
(d) Ballot polling risk-limiting audits;34
(e) Batch risk-limiting audits;35
(f) Conduct of a limited hand-count audit;36
(g) Selecting the contest to be audited for state and county;37
(h) Expanding an audit to include additional ballots if audit 38
results show a discrepancy, including thresholds for auditing 39
additional ballots; and40
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(i) The method to determine how many additional ballots will be 1
selected in an audit expanded under (h) of this subsection;2
(11) Standards and procedures for investigating the cause of any 3
discrepancy found during a postelection audit;4
(12) Consistency among the counties of the state in the 5
preparation of ballots, the operation of vote tallying systems, and 6
the canvassing of primaries and elections; 7
(((11))) (13) Procedures to ensure the secrecy of a voter's 8
ballot when a small number of ballots are counted , including the 9
aggregation of precinct results if reporting the results of a single 10
precinct could jeopardize the secrecy of a person's ballot;11
(((12))) (14) The use of substitute devices or means of voting 12
when a voting device is found to be defective, the counting of votes 13
cast on the defective device, the counting of votes cast on the 14
substitute device, and the documentation that must be submitted to 15
the county auditor regarding such circumstances; 16
(((13))) (15) Procedures for the transportation of sealed 17
containers of voted ballots or sealed voting devices;18
(((14))) (16) The acceptance and filing of documents via 19
electronic transmission; 20
(((15))) (17) Voter registration applications and records;21
(((16))) (18) The use of voter registration information in the 22
conduct of elections; 23
(((17))) (19) The coordination, delivery, and processing of voter 24
registration records accepted by driver licensing agents or the 25
department of licensing; 26
(((18))) (20) The coordination, delivery, and processing of voter 27
registration records accepted by agencies designated by the governor 28
to provide voter registration services; 29
(((19))) (21) Procedures to receive and distribute voter 30
registration applications by mail; 31
(((20))) (22) Procedures for a voter to change his or her voter 32
registration address within a county by telephone;33
(((21))) (23) Procedures for a voter to change the name under 34
which he or she is registered to vote; 35
(((22))) (24) Procedures for canceling dual voter registration 36
records and for maintaining records of persons whose voter 37
registrations have been canceled; 38
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(((23))) (25) Procedures for the electronic transfer of voter 1
registration records between county auditors and the office of the 2
secretary of state; 3
(((24))) (26) Procedures and forms related to automatic voter 4
registration; 5
(((25))) (27) Procedures and forms for declarations of candidacy;6
(((26))) (28) Procedures and requirements for the acceptance and 7
filing of declarations of candidacy by electronic means;8
(((27))) (29) Procedures for the circumstance in which two or 9
more candidates have a name similar in sound or spelling so as to 10
cause confusion for the voter; 11
(((28))) (30) Filing for office; 12
(((29))) (31) The order of positions and offices on a ballot;13
(((30))) (32) Sample ballots; 14
(((31) Independent evaluations of voting systems and the testing, 15
approval, and certification of voting systems;16
(32) The testing of vote tallying software programming;))17
(33) Standards and procedures to prevent fraud and to facilitate 18
the accurate processing and canvassing of ballots, including 19
standards for the approval and implementation of hardware and 20
software for automated signature verification systems;21
(34) Standards and procedures to guarantee the secrecy of 22
ballots; 23
(35) Uniformity among the counties of the state in the conduct of 24
elections; 25
(36) Standards and procedures to accommodate overseas voters and 26
service voters; 27
(37) The tabulation of paper ballots; 28
(38) The accessibility of voting centers; 29
(39) ((The aggregation of precinct results if reporting the 30
results of a single precinct could jeopardize the secrecy of a 31
person's ballot;32
(40))) Procedures for conducting a statutory recount;33
(40) Procedures for resolving discrepancies between results 34
produced by a ballot counting system and results of a risk-limiting 35
audit during a risk-limiting audit, and next steps in the case of a 36
failed audit;37
(41) Procedures for filling vacancies in congressional offices if 38
the general statutory time requirements for availability of ballots, 39
certification, canvassing, and related procedures cannot be met;40
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(42) Procedures for the statistical sampling of signatures for 1
purposes of verifying and canvassing signatures on initiative, 2
referendum, and recall election petitions; 3
(43) Standards and deadlines for submitting material to the 4
office of the secretary of state for the voters' pamphlet;5
(44) Deadlines for the filing of ballot titles for referendum 6
bills and constitutional amendments if none have been provided by the 7
legislature; 8
(45) Procedures for the publication of a state voters' pamphlet;9
(46) Procedures for conducting special elections regarding 10
nuclear waste sites if the general statutory time requirements for 11
availability of ballots, certification, canvassing, and related 12
procedures cannot be met; 13
(47) Procedures for conducting partisan primary elections;14
(48) Standards and procedures for the proper conduct of voting on 15
accessible voting devices; 16
(49) Standards for voting technology and systems used by the 17
state or any political subdivision to be accessible for individuals 18
with disabilities, including nonvisual accessibility for the blind 19
and visually impaired, in a manner that provides the same opportunity 20
for access and participation, including privacy and independence, as 21
other voters; 22
(50) All data formats for transferring voter registration data on 23
electronic or machine-readable media for the purpose of administering 24
the statewide voter registration list required by the Help America 25
Vote Act (P.L. 107-252); 26
(51) Defining the interaction of electronic voter registration 27
election management systems employed by each county auditor to 28
maintain a local copy of each county's portion of the official state 29
list of registered voters; 30
(52) Provisions and procedures to implement the state-based 31
administrative complaint procedure as required by the Help America 32
Vote Act (P.L. 107-252); 33
(53) Facilitating the payment of local government grants to local 34
government election officers or vendors; and 35
(54) Standards for the verification of signatures on ballot 36
declarations. 37
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