Bill > HB426

This bill introduces significant changes to Maryland's election audit procedures by establishing a comprehensive risk-limiting audit (RLA) system for statewide elections. The bill defines key terms like "risk-limiting audit" as a statistical method to ensure a high probability of detecting incorrect election outcomes, and "risk limit" as the predetermined maximum chance that an audit might miss an incorrect result. Under the new provisions, the State Board of Elections, in collaboration with local election boards, will be required to conduct risk-limiting audits after each statewide election, focusing on at least one statewide contest and potentially other selected contests. The audit will involve manually examining randomly chosen voter-verifiable paper records until a predetermined statistical confidence level is reached or the correct election outcome is established. If the audit reveals inaccuracies in the electronic vote count, the Board of Canvassers must investigate and correct the results within three days. The bill also allows for optional automated software audits and gives local boards discretion to conduct risk-limiting audits for local contests. Additionally, the State Board must develop regulations specifying audit criteria, risk limits, and methods. These changes aim to improve election integrity and provide transparency in the vote-counting process, with the new procedures set to take effect on June 1, 2025.

Budget and Finance, Education

https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/HB0426?ys=2025RS