Votes are counted by staff at the Maricopa County Elections Department office on Nov. 5, 2020. /Photo by Courtney Pedroza / Getty Images
ByTori Gantz | Arizona Capitol Times
Arizona election security officials are changing the way they formulate the voting error margin to create more accuracy amid controversy over ballot counts in previous races.
The Vote Count Verification Committee ruled last week to change the error rate that local election officials use to audit voters’ ballots.
“Given some of the rhetoric around mail-in ballots and some of the challenges, it seemed like a great opportunity to make the audit requirements more stringent,” said Committee Chair Jennifer Morrell, who is a nationally recognized expert in election auditing.
The committee convened for the first time since September 2020 to decide on a trigger margin that expands vote hand counts. It is composed of seven nonpartisan election security experts, who each have extensive backgrounds in civic technology and on-the-ground democratic voting processes, from across the state and country.
