Alabama House passes bill requiring random post-election audits

The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill requiring every county to audit the results of at least one race in at least one precinct after every general election.

Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, said the intent is to identify any potential problems, such as malfunction of the ballot-counting machines.

The audits could not result in changing the outcome of an election.

Republican lawmakers have proposed similar bills before and they have passed the House but not the Senate.

Democrats questioned the need for the legislation.

“I believe this is a frivolous bill,” Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham said.

Moore said the ballot counting machines are tested before elections.

“We don’t have any data to prove that anything irregular has happened,” Moore said.

Lovvorn said the audits would identify potential problems that need to be fixed before the next election.

Lovvorn noted that the audits would cost an estimated total of $35,000 per day statewide, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

The state would reimburse counties for their costs.

Rep. Patrick Sellers, D-Birmingham, questioned the $35,000 figure, noting that would be an average of just $522 for Alabama’s 67 counties.

He said the state’s large counties would have to spend more than that to do the audits.

Lovvorn said the cost would vary by county but said it would be justified to help ensure people’s confidence in elections.

“This is a minimal cost for peace of mind for all of us and all the people we represent, that we’re doing everything we can to prove that this is working correctly,“ Lovvorn said.

Under his bill, the probate judge of every county would order an audit after every county or statewide general election.

The county canvassing board would randomly select one race for the audit and one precinct.

County canvassing boards are made up of the probate judge, the circuit clerk, and the sheriff.

The probate judge would select a date and time for the audit, which could happen no earlier than 31 days after the election or the expiration of the time period to file an election contest, whichever is less.

The probate judge would appoint an inspector and poll workers to do the audit.

Every ballot from the selected race in the selected precinct would be counted after being delivered in the sealed ballot containers.

The ballots could be counted either manually or by a ballot counter. At least 30 ballots would be manually examined to compare with the reading on the ballot counter for each ballot.

The probate judge would report the findings of each post-election audit to the secretary of state, including any problems found, the cause, and recommendations for fixing them.

The reports would be posted on the secretary of state website.

The bill passed by a vote of 72-25. It was the first bill passed by the House during this year’s annual session, which started Tuesday.