Pre-Election Systems Audit of Election Administration Jurisdictions

Local Election Audit Guide

Ballotpedia’s go-to-resource to help people understand the safeguards and procedures for fair and secure elections

Ballotpedia’s Local Election Audit comprises 44 questions organized into 11 categories covering the entire election process.

The audit enables citizens, officials, journalists, researchers, students—or anyone—who wants to get a complete picture of how these elections are managed to evaluate and learn more about the policies and procedures of local election administration in a systematic way.

The audit includes questions in 11 different categories:

• Voter registration
• Chain of custody
• Voting in person
• Record and equipment management
• Voting by mail
• Security
• Voting equipment
• Data reporting
• Training
• Tabulating
• Documentation

Have a suggestion for the audit? Please email us.

To keep track of election legislation in all 50 states, use Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.

Who it's for:

• Voters who want to understand their local election process
• Community organizations promoting civic engagement
• Journalists covering election administration
• Local officials seeking to improve their election systems

How to use the audit:

• Use these 44 questions to gather information from your local election officials
• You can ask these questions at public meetings, through official information requests, or during informational interviews
• The answers will give you a complete picture of how elections are managed in your area

Click here to format the audit questions for print.

Voter registration

Election Information
Voter registration
Early voting
Absentee/mail-in voting
All-mail voting
Voter ID laws
State poll opening and closing times
Time off work for voting
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker
The Ballot Bulletin
State of Election Administration Legislation Reports
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• How does the jurisdiction verify the citizenship of voter registration applicants?
• How does the jurisdiction verify a voter registration applicant's address?
• How does the jurisdiction identify voters who might have moved from their registered address?
• How does the jurisdiction identify and remove deceased individuals as registered voters?
• How does the jurisdiction identify and remove inactive voters from voter rolls?
• How does the jurisdiction identify voters disqualified due to felony convictions?

Chain of custody

• How does the jurisdiction document the chain of custody for election equipment, documents, and materials?
• How does the jurisdiction address any irregularities in the chain of custody?
• How does the jurisdiction handle provisional ballots before determining a voter's eligibility?

Voting in person

• How do polling places ensure only eligible voters are able to cast a ballot?
• How do election officials determine whether the number of ballots cast at a polling place matches the number of voters who voted at the polling place?
• How does the jurisdiction document why it accepts or rejects a provisional ballot?
• Is the state involved in the provisional ballot process?

Record and equipment management

• Does the jurisdiction maintain an inventory of all voting equipment?
• If so, how does the jurisdiction store and update the inventory?
• Are inventory records publicly available?

Voting by mail

• What happens if an absentee/mail-in ballot is returned as undeliverable to the voter?
• Does the jurisdiction verify voter signatures on absentee/mail-in ballots? How?
• How does the jurisdiction verify the identity of someone voting by mail?
• What is the jurisdiction's process for maintaining a chain of custody of absentee/mail-in ballot materials?

Security

• Does the jurisdiction use a password management system?
• How does the jurisdiction monitor access to sensitive areas (like tabulation rooms)?
• How does the jurisdiction allocate tasks between full-time and temporary staff?
• What contingency plans are in place for natural disasters?
• How does the jurisdiction control and document access to sensitive materials such as voting equipment and voted ballots?

Voting equipment

• Is the jurisdiction using certified voting equipment and software?
• Does the jurisdiction perform Logic & Accuracy (L&A) testing?
• How does the jurisdiction comply with any requirements to publicly share test information?
• What happens to voting equipment after an election?
• Is hash validation done for any software?

Data reporting

• How does the jurisdiction document how votes were cast (in-person, absentee/mail-in, etc.)?
• Does the jurisdiction record data on votes cast and tabulated by polling location? Is this publicly available?
• Does the jurisdiction maintain a log of flash drive audits?

Training

• How are poll workers trained?
• What poll worker training does the state offer?
• What poll worker training does the county offer?
• Is poll worker training pass/fail?
• What happens if someone fails?

Tabulating

• What are the rules for poll workers during tabulation?
• Are there rules governing the times of day or number of hours that votes must be counted?
• How does the jurisdiction respond to irregularities during tabulation?
• Under what circumstances, if any, are ballots duplicated?
• Does the jurisdiction keep records of duplicated ballots?
• What is the process for adjudication of ballots?

Documentation

• How does the jurisdiction document its policies and procedures?
• How frequently is documentation updated and what triggers an update?

Explore election legislation with Ballotpedia

• 
  Try Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker

  Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker provides daily updates on legislative activity related to election policy in all 50 states.
  
  Our election policy experts translate complex bill text into easy-to-understand summaries. And because it's from Ballotpedia, our legislation tracker is guaranteed to be neutral, unbiased, and nonpartisan.
  Search bills
• 
  Read Ballotpedia's State of Election Administration Legislation Reports

  Ballotpedia publishes regular analysis of election administration legislation, including three full reports per year, providing ongoing coverage of legislative activity affecting election policy in each state.
  
  These reports deliver insights into partisan priorities, dive deep into notable trends, and highlight activity in key states.
  Read the latest report
• 
  
  Subscribe to The Ballot Bulletin

  The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy.
  
  The newsletter tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
  Subscribe

See also

• Ballotpedia’s Voter Toolkit
• Ballotpedia's 2024 Election Help Desk
• Ballotpedia’s Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
• 2024 election dates and deadlines

Footnotes