Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H5385 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	2023 -- H 5385
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7	7	LC000477
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9	9	S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- CONDUCT OF ELECTION AND VOTING EQUIPMENT
16	16	AND SUPPLIES
17	17	Introduced By: Representatives Place, Rea, Newberry, Nardone, and Roberts
18	18	Date Introduced: February 03, 2023
19	19	Referred To: House State Government & Elections
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22	22	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23	23	SECTION 1. Section 17-19-37.4 of the General Laws in Chapter 17-19 entitled "Conduct 1
24	24	of Election and Voting Equipment, and Supplies" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
25	25	17-19-37.4. Post-election audits. 3
26	26	(a) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that auditing of election 4
27	27	results is necessary to ensure effective election administration and public confidence in the election 5
28	28	results. Further, risk-limiting audits provide a more effective manner of conducting audits than 6
29	29	traditional audit methods in that risk-limiting audit methods typically require only limited resources 7
30	30	for election contests with wide margins of victory while investing greater resources in close 8
31	31	contests. 9
32	32	(b) Commencing in 2018, the board, in conjunction with local boards, is authorized to 10
33	33	conduct risk-limiting audits after all statewide primary, general, and special elections in accordance 11
34	34	with the requirements of this section. Commencing in 2020, the state board, in conjunction with 12
35	35	local boards, must conduct risk-limiting audits after the presidential preference primary and general 13
36	36	elections in accordance with the requirements in this section. 14
37	37	(c) The audit program shall be conducted as follows: 15
38	38	(1) The state board shall determine what local, statewide, and federal contests are subject 16
39	39	to a risk-limiting audit; 17
40	40	(2) The state board shall provide notice pursuant to chapter 46 of title 42 of the time and 18
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44	44	place of the random selection of the audit units to be manually tallied and of the times and places 1
45	45	of the audits; 2
46	46	(3) The state board shall make available to the public a report of the vote-tabulating device 3
47	47	results for the contest, including the results for each audit unit in the contest, prior to the random 4
48	48	selection of audit units to be manually tallied and prior to the commencement of the audit; 5
49	49	(4) The state board, in conjunction with the local boards, shall conduct the audit upon 6
50	50	tabulation of the unofficial final results as provided in §§ 17-19-36 and 17-19-37; and 7
51	51	(5) The state board, in conjunction with the local boards, shall conduct the audit in public 8
52	52	view by manually interpreting the ballots according to rules established by the state board in 9
53	53	accordance with chapter 35 of title 42. 10
54	54	(d) If a risk-limiting audit of a contest leads to a full manual tally of the ballots cast using 11
55	55	the voting system, the vote counts according to that manual tally shall replace the vote counts 12
56	56	reported pursuant to §§ 17-19-36 and 17-19-37 for the purpose of determining the official contest 13
57	57	results pursuant to §§ 17-22-5.2 and 17-22-6. 14
58	58	(e) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings: 15
59	59	(1) “Audit unit” means a precinct, a set of ballots, or a single ballot. A precinct, a set of 16
60	60	ballots, or a single ballot may be used as an audit unit for purposes of this section only if all of the 17
61	61	following conditions are satisfied: 18
62	62	(i) The relevant vote-tabulating device is able to produce a report of the votes cast in the 19
63	63	precinct, set of ballots, or single ballot; and 20
64	64	(ii) Each ballot is assigned to not more than one audit unit. 21
65	65	(2) “Contest” means an election for an office or for a measure. 22
66	66	(3) “Risk-limiting audit” means a manual tally employing a statistical method that ensures 23
67	67	a large, predetermined minimum chance of requiring a full manual tally whenever a full manual 24
68	68	tally would show an electoral outcome that differs from the outcome reported by the vote-tabulating 25
69	69	system for the audited contest. A risk-limiting audit shall begin with a hand tally of the votes in one 26
70	70	or more audit units and shall continue to hand tally votes in additional audit units until there is 27
71	71	strong statistical evidence that the electoral outcome is correct. In the event that counting additional 28
72	72	audit units does not provide strong statistical evidence that the electoral outcome is correct, the 29
73	73	audit shall continue until there has been a full manual tally to determine the correct electoral 30
74	74	outcome of the audited contest. 31
75	75	(4) “Unofficial final results” means election results tabulated pursuant to §§ 17-19-36 and 32
76	76	17-19-37. 33
77	77	(f) The results of any audits conducted under this section shall be published on the website 34
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81	81	of the state board within forty-eight (48) hours of being accepted by the state board. If the audit 1
82	82	involved a manual tally of one or more entire precincts, then the names and numbers of all precincts 2
83	83	audited and a comparison of the vote tabulator results with the hand counts for each precinct shall 3
84	84	be published with the audit results on the website. 4
85	85	(g) Any audit required under this section shall not commence for any election subject to a 5
86	86	recount pursuant to §§ 17-19-37.1, 17-19-37.2, and 17-19-37.3 until the conclusion of said recount. 6
87	87	(h) In addition to the post-election audit procedures previously created in this section, the 7
88	88	following audit shall be performed: 8
89	89	(1) Before the election results are certified, pursuant to this chapter, the board of elections 9
90	90	shall conduct a post-election risk-limiting audit of the mail ballot voter signature verification 10
91	91	accuracy of the return mail ballot envelopes received for the local, statewide and federal contests, 11
92	92	selected by the board, utilizing the ballot audit selection process created by this section. 12
93	93	(2) If the risk-limiting audit of the signatures on the mail ballot envelopes cast in the audited 13
94	94	contest reveals that the number of signatures on the mail ballot envelopes that should not have been 14
95	95	verified, exceeds the margin of victory in the selected contest, then a new special election shall be 15
96	96	held for such contest, before its election results are certified. 16
97	97	(h)(i) The state board shall promulgate rules, regulations, and procedures in accordance 17
98	98	with chapter 35 of title 42 necessary to implement this section. 18
99	99	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 19
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106	106	EXPLANATION
107	107	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
108	108	OF
109	109	A N A C T
110	110	RELATING TO ELECTIONS -- CONDUCT OF ELECTION AND VOTING EQUIPMENT
111	111	AND SUPPLIES
112	112	***
113	113	This act would create a new additional post-election risk-limiting audit of voted mail 1
114	114	ballots, focusing on voter signature verification. 2
115	115	This act would take effect upon passage. 3
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