Florida law prescribes one post-election voting system audit. Fla. Stat. § 101.591. This audit may be done manually or may be automated. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(1). The County Canvassing Board has the discretion to choose which method to use. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 1. A post-election audit is not required in a county if there is a manual recount in a race in that county. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(6).
The post-election audit must begin “[i]mmediately following the certification” of the election on the county level. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(1). It must be completed no later than 11:59 p.m. on the seventh day following certification — in 2024, this deadline would be no later than Monday, November 25, 2024. Fla. Stat. §§ 101.591(4); 102.112(2). Public notice must be given at least 24 hours in advance of the audit, and may be given before the completion of the certification. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2.
Guidance and regulations for the post-election audit are issued by the Division of Elections. See “Audit Procedure Summary;” Fla. Admin. Code R. 1S-5.026. They both appear to have been last updated in 2022. See “Audit Procedure Summary” at 1; Fla. Admin. Code R. 1S-5.026.
The post-election audit is conducted by audit teams, overseen by the County Canvassing Board. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 1. It is unclear what criteria is used to determine members of the audit teams as well as how many members there are to a team. Guidance only states that the County Canvassing Board must appoint as many teams as necessary and there must be a maximum of two observers for each team. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2. For manual audits, there must be a majority of the County Canvassing Board present, and for automated audits at least one member of the Board present. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2.
As noted above, the County Canvassing Board chooses whether to conduct a manual audit or automated audit. Each method has its own statutorily prescribed procedure. See Fla. Stat. § 101.591.
The County Canvassing Board will randomly select 1%–2% of the precincts to be audited, with at least one entire precinct being audited. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(2)(a). In a manual audit, only one race will be audited—also chosen at random. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(2)(a). The precincts and races are chosen at a public meeting after certification. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 1.
Once a manual audit begins, it must continue until it is completed with an allowance for recesses. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2. During any recesses, ballots and tally sheets must be secured using procedures established by the Supervisor of Elections. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2.
Audit teams examine ballots by how they were cast, separately auditing early vote, vote-by-mail, and Election Day ballots. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2. Ballots are then placed into one of four stacks if the audit team is in agreement: “1) overvoted, 2) undervoted, 3) Clear voter intent), and 4) unclear voter intent (i.e. ambiguous marks).” “Audit Procedure Summary” at 2. Guidance does not specify whether the audit team has to be in unanimous agreement. The totals for each stack are tallied and recorded on an audit tally worksheet that is provided by the Division of Elections. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3.
The County Canvassing Board then compares the totals from the audit with the totals that the voting machines print out. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. If there is a discrepancy of less than 0.5% between the two totals then the Board records the result on a form provided by the Division of Elections. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. If there is a discrepancy of more than 0.5% then the Board must determine if the difference between the two results can be reconciled with further review. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. If the discrepancy is still more than 0.5% then a different audit team will conduct a manual re-tally. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. If the numbers do not match after that then the County Canvassing Board will record that information on a form provided by the Division of Elections. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3.
The automated independent audit is also known as an AIA. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. Before the AIA begins, software and scanners are tested to make sure that they are functioning properly. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3.
Unlike the manual audit, the AIA audits all of the races on the ballot, not just one. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. Additionally, at least 20% of precincts are randomly chosen to be audited when using this method. Fla. Stat. § 101.591(2)(b).
The AIA system will scan the ballots and print out a tally of votes cast by each ballot type, in-person on Election Day, early vote, and vote-by-mail. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. The tallies produced by the AIA system and the official tallies are compared. If there is a discrepancy between the two totals that is less than 0.5% then the County Canvassing Board will record that result on a form provided by the Division of Elections. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 3. If the discrepancy is larger than 0.5% then the Board must investigate the discrepancy to see if there were ballots marked that were likely not counted by either the tabulator or the AIA system. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 4. They must then prepare a Discrepancy Report and must explain the discrepancy. “Audit Procedure Summary” at 4.