The Florida Senate

¹101.591  Voting system audit.--

(1)  The Legislature, upon specific appropriation and directive, may provide for an independent audit of the voting system in any county. Within 30 days after completing the audit, the person conducting the audit shall furnish a copy of the audit to the supervisor of elections and the board of county commissioners.

(2)  An audit conducted pursuant to subsection (1) shall consist of a study and evaluation of the voting system used during any primary, general, municipal, or presidential preference primary election to provide reasonable assurance that the system is properly controlled, can accurately count votes, provides adequate safeguards against unauthorized manipulation and fraud, and complies with the requirements of law and rules of the Department of State.

History.--s. 14, ch. 89-348; s. 41, ch. 97-13; s. 8, ch. 2007-30.

¹Note.--Section 8, ch. 2007-30, amended s. 101.591, effective July 1, 2008, to read:

101.591  Voting system audit.--

(1)  Immediately following the certification of each election, the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election shall conduct a manual audit of the voting systems used in randomly selected precincts.

(2)  The audit shall consist of a public manual tally of the votes cast in one randomly selected race that appears on the ballot. The tally sheet shall include election-day, absentee, early voting, provisional, and overseas ballots, in at least 1 percent but no more than 2 percent of the precincts chosen at random by the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election. If 1 percent of the precincts is less than one entire precinct, the audit shall be conducted using at least one precinct chosen at random by the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election. Such precincts shall be selected at a publicly noticed canvassing board meeting.

(3)  The canvassing board shall post a notice of the audit, including the date, time, and place, in four conspicuous places in the county and on the home page of the county supervisor of elections website.

(4)  The audit must be completed and the results made public no later than 11:59 p.m. on the 7th day following certification of the election by the county canvassing board or the local board responsible for certifying the election.

(5)  Within 15 days after completion of the audit, the county canvassing board or the board responsible for certifying the election shall provide a report with the results of the audit to the Department of State in a standard format as prescribed by the department. The report shall contain, but is not limited to, the following items:

(a)  The overall accuracy of audit.

(b)  A description of any problems or discrepancies encountered.

(c)  The likely cause of such problems or discrepancies.

(d)  Recommended corrective action with respect to avoiding or mitigating such circumstances in future elections.