Percentage-Based versus Statistical-Power-Based Vote Tabulation Audits
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Quantitative Health SciencesDocument Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2008-02-01
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Several pending federal and state electoral-integrity bills specify hand audits of 1% to 10% of all precincts. However, percentage-based audits are usually inefficient, because they require large samples for large jurisdictions, even though the sample needed to achieve good accuracy is much more affected by the closeness of the contest than population size. Percentage-based audits can also be ineffective, since close contests may require auditing a large fraction of the total to provide confidence in the outcome. We present a plausible statistical frame-work that we have used in advising state and local election officials and legislators. In recent federal elections, this audit model would have required approximately the same effort and resources as the less effective percentage-based audits now being considered.Source
John McCarthy, Howard Stanislevic, Mark Lindeman, Arlene S Ash, Vittorio Addona, Mary Batcher. The American Statistician. February 1, 2008, 62(1): 11-16. doi:10.1198/000313008X273779.DOI
10.1198/000313008X273779.Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/47622ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1198/000313008X273779.