Last week, all 15 Arizona counties held a test of logic and precision ahead of the recount of the Maricopa County Attorney General, the Superintendent of Public Education, and the State Representatives of the 13th Legislative District. was done.

The Carter Center mobilized nonpartisan election observers to oversee tests of logic and accuracy in accordance with Arizona law. This observational effort contributes to the Carter Center’s broad bipartisan observations regarding the 2022 Arizona midterm elections. This includes face-to-face observations and analysis of published data. The Center will publish a final report on Arizona’s midterm election process in early 2023.

All 15 counties passed the logic and accuracy tests and detected no errors. This indicates that aggregation equipment can be expected to function correctly during reaggregation. The following discussion describes the logic and accuracy testing process and outlines the main findings of the Carter Center.

Q: What is logic and accuracy testing?

Logic and accuracy testing is the process used by state and county elections officials to ensure that voting and counting equipment for upcoming elections can be expected to function correctly. Before every election, the devices in each of Arizona’s 15 counties are put through two tests for logic and accuracy. His second round, conducted by county elections staff, ensures the equipment is working properly in case additional elections are held in the county. Logic and accuracy tests are also performed before reaggregation.

Q: What does the reaggregation logic and accuracy test test?

Recounting logic and accuracy testing focuses on the functionality of the tallying or counting equipment used to recount votes. Before a recount occurs, the county’s elections department must reprogram all tabulators (vote counters) to only count votes from the precincts being recounted. Logic and accuracy tests confirm that this reprogramming was done correctly and that the tallyers accurately tallied votes for court-ordered recounts in line with ARS § 16-661: Automatic recount; it was done. requirement.

Q: How were the tests done?

Prior to arriving in each county, state elections staff prepared sets of pre-marked ballots for passage through the county’s counting equipment. By testing these ballots, election officials can verify that the counting equipment is working correctly from a mechanical standpoint, correctly recognize the specific ballots and races the equipment is recounting, and can be verified to accurately report the sum of County elections officials do not know in advance what will be included on the test ballot. Also, each county has its own tests.

For recounting purposes, each county test included overvoted votes. For example, her two candidates for Attorney General were selected. The test ballot also included a federal-only ballot. This means that votes from those voters who are registered federal voters but have not provided sufficient proof of citizenship to vote in Arizona should not be counted in state or local elections. It’s for Each set of test ballots also included a ballot with the candidates filled out. By testing these ballots, election officials need additional human review to determine whether counting equipment is stacking properly, or whether or how to count votes. I was able to confirm that I was sorting out the votes.

Q: What does it mean if the test is successful?

A successful test verifies that the election program programmed into the tallying device correctly assigns votes to candidates and that each candidate receives the appropriate number of votes. Only after passing this test can the county begin the recount process.

Q: What role do political parties play in the testing process?

Testing is open to any member of the public who wishes to participate and observe. However, his three registered political parties, especially in Arizona (Democrat, Libertarian, and Republican), have been invited to provide official representatives who will play an important role in the testing process. They ensure that no reports are produced at the start of each test (the reports produced by each tabulator under test indicate that votes were not passed through the equipment and counted prior to testing). ). Also, verify that the test results report matches the expected results of the test. The expected results are delivered to the testing site by the Secretary of State’s staff in a sealed envelope that is opened only when the test is completed.

Q: What additional safeguards are in place to ensure the accuracy of recounts?

Recounting is done with the active participation of official political party representatives. All stages of the recount process must be constantly monitored by a team of bipartisan representatives, who also actively participate in the recount. In addition, at the end of the recount, a tact check of two precincts or two polling places (whichever is greater) and 1% of all early ballots received by the county were administered by official party bipartisan teams. increase. The delegates double-checked that the counting device had counted the ballots accurately.

Q: When will the recount results be announced?

Only the court that mandated the recount can announce the results of the recount process, so the results will not be announced until a court hearing scheduled for December 22, 2022.

Q: Did party observers participate in the recount logic and accuracy tests?

Both Democratic and Republican party observers were present and actively participated in the test. Nearly every county confirmed zero reports and confirmed that summary report results match expected test results. There were no political party observers in Greenlee County, instead a bipartisan team of election officials verified the zero report and confirmed the test results. There were no party observers from the Republican Party in Pinal County. A member of the county elections staff represented the party during the verification of the zero reports and test results. The Libertarian Party county chairman participated in the test in Yuma County. The Carter Center did not note the presence of Libertarian observers in any other county.

Q: Did any of the appointed political party observers object to the implementation of the logic and accuracy tests?

The Carter Center is not aware of formal objections or objections to the conduct of the testing process raised by any of the political party observers in attendance. In Navajo County, however, party observers in attendance raised concerns that only a sample of counting equipment used for recounting was tested. I explained that it is to evaluate the accuracy of a new program loaded for aggregation for aggregation. So I didn’t have to test every tabulator since the same program is loaded on every machine. A hand-count audit following recounting serves as an additional check for tabulator accuracy.

Q: How did the media and other members of the public participate in the test?

In La Paz county, local journalists participated in the test. In no other county did the Carter Center meet members of the media. The public participated in tests in Apache, Mojave, Navajo, and Pinal counties. In addition, members of the Board of Supervisors attended testing in Cochise County, county registrars and staff attended testing in La Paz County, members of the Sheriff’s Department and county attorneys and county registrar’s offices. Staff attended. Tested in Santa Cruz County. In all counties, election staff were able to answer questions from political party observers and other members of the public about the inspection process. Election staff also provided handouts about the testing process to facilitate public understanding.

Q: Did you follow proper procedures for logic and accuracy testing?

The Carter Center Observers have independently validated that critical steps in the logic and accuracy testing process are being performed correctly and consistently. No reports were produced and verified by all party observers present in all counties. A set of pre-marked ballots or a test script was also used to conduct the test in all counties. Across all counties, Carter Center observers confirmed that these test ballots included overrated votes and write candidate votes. The Carter Center also confirmed that the Central Counting Unit’s outstacking feature was tested in all counties, except Yavapai County, where observers were unable to see this part of the process. All counties produced a summary report at the end of the test, and the political party observers present confirmed that the summary report results matched those expected from the test script. Test ballots were secured and retained at the end of the test in all counties.

Q: How was the test environment?

All county tests were conducted in a peaceful environment free of violence or intimidation. During its observations, Carter Center observers did not witness any civilian or political party observers influence the conduct of the test or intimidate existing election officials. Testing in all 15 counties proceeded without interruption.

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