IDAHO — Until this year, Idaho was one of the few states that did not conduct post-election audits, but in February, the Secretary of State’s office convinced lawmakers to change that.
Idaho law now requires post-election audits for general and primary elections in Idaho.
Related: Idaho primary election audit finds tiny number of miscues
Through a random ball draw 8 counties are selected for a post-election audit. The number of balls each county gets is based on its voting population.
From there, the process repeats to decide which precincts from those chosen counties will have their election results audited.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved implementing audits this year, to bring peace of mind to election security.
“Since the election of 2020, these election procedures in Idaho have been questioned and while the events that have been questioned are from other states, it is important that Idahoans feel confident that Idaho elections are well run and that we take the issue of election integrity seriously,” Senator Patti Anne Lodge said during debate in February.
Although the bill easily passed both chambers some lawmakers had concerns saying it wasn’t enough.
“Security of the ballots, every step of the way, where they are stored. There’s a lot more to an audit than just looking at the paper ballots,” Senator Mary Souza said.
Related: Post-election audit is successful in Ada County
Ada County was one of the counties selected for the primary audit in May where all results were found to be exact and match to what was recorded on election night.
Following the successful results in May, Ada County Clerk Phil McGrane said “this process is an opportunity to increase transparency in the election process and build confidence in the system.”
The audit will take place on-site in each of the counties selected. The draw will happen on November 18 which you can watch via live stream.
