2023 CODE OF GEORGIA › Title 21 - ELECTIONS (§§ 21-1-1 — 21-5-76) › Chapter 2 - ELECTIONS AND PRIMARIES GENERALLY (§§ 21-2-1 — 21-2-604) › Article 12 - RETURNS (§§ 21-2-490 — 21-2-504) › Section 21-2-498 - Precertification tabulation audits

(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
"Incorrect outcome" means the winner of a contest or the answer to a proposed constitutional amendment or question would be different from the results found in a manual recount of paper official ballots.
(2)
"Risk limit" means the largest statistical probability that an incorrect outcome is not detected or corrected in a risk-limiting audit; provided, however, that such probability does not exceed:
(A)
Eight percent in 2024;
(B)
Six percent in 2026; and
(C)
Five percent or less in 2028 and thereafter.
(3)
"Risk-limiting audit" means an audit protocol that makes use of statistical methods and is designed to limit to acceptable levels the risk of certifying a preliminary election outcome that constitutes an incorrect outcome.
(4)
"Selected contests" means:
(A)
The contest at the top of a ballot; and
(B)
If the following races are on a ballot, one contest from the following races as selected pursuant to subsection (d) of this Code section: United States Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture, Commissioner of Labor, Supreme Court Justice, Judge of the Court of Appeals, or Public Service Commissioner, provided that such selected contest is not the race at the top of the ballot.
(b)
Local election superintendents shall conduct precertification risk-limiting audits on selected contests following any election, special election, election runoff, special election runoff, primary, special primary, primary runoff, or special primary runoff with presidential, United States Senate, or state-wide contests in accordance with requirements set forth by rule or regulation of the State Election Board. Audits performed under this Code section shall be conducted by manual inspection of random samples of the paper official ballots.
(c)
In conducting each audit, the local election superintendents shall:
(1)
Complete the audit prior to final certification of the contests;
(2)
Ensure that all types of ballots are included in the audit, whether cast in person, by absentee ballot, advance voting, provisional ballot, or otherwise;
(3)
Provide a report of the unofficial final tabulated vote results for the contests to the public prior to conducting the audit;
(4)
Complete the audit in public view; and
(5)
Provide details of the audit to the public within 48 hours of completion.
(d)
In the event that multiple qualified races are on a ballot, one race in addition to the race at the top of the ballot shall be selected as a selected contest for auditing pursuant to this Code section. The additional selected contest shall be selected by majority vote of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the minority leader of the Senate, and the minority leader of the House of Representatives; provided, however, that, in the event that a majority vote cannot be obtained by 11:00 A.M. on the Thursday immediately following the election, special election, election runoff, special election runoff, primary, special primary, primary runoff, or special primary runoff, the additional selected contest shall be selected by the chairperson of the State Election Board. The selection vote required by this subsection does not need to occur in person; such vote may be accomplished telephonically, virtually, or via written or electronic correspondence.
(e)
The State Election Board shall be authorized to promulgate rules, regulations, and procedures to implement and administer the provisions of this Code section. The procedures prescribed by the State Election Board shall include security procedures to ensure that collection of validly cast ballots is complete, accurate, and trustworthy throughout the audit.
(f)
Nothing in this Code section shall prevent an election superintendent from conducting tabulation or risk-limiting audits in additional contests if circumstances warrant the auditing of one or more additional contests than those required by this Code section.
Amended by 2024 Ga. Laws 589,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2023 Ga. Laws 353,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2023.
Amended by 2023 Ga. Laws 341,§ 5, eff. 7/1/2023.
Added by 2019 Ga. Laws 24,§ 42, eff. 4/2/2019.