Over the past several weeks, voters cast their votes to make their voices heard in the general elections.

Votes were counted rapidly on election night — mostly by computers — to generate unofficial results. But counting votes is a process and the election night count is but one part of that process.

The number of ballots received, either through absentee, vote by mail or in person voting, must be reconciled with the number of registered voters that applied for and voted a ballot.

Over the next days and weeks, many states will conduct mandatory, non-partisan audits of the results to compare the vote as recorded on paper with the machine count of the votes. This is a vital process because, while voting systems are generally reliable, they are not infallible.

The election is now in the verification phase. This is when the paper ballot — the official record of the voters’ choices — must be reviewed to compare to the computer-generated results, or to identify anomalies or miscounts. We will be observing the ballot reconciliations and audits as they proceed.

 

Black Voters Matter

Coalition for Good Governance

Free Speech For People

Georgians for Verified Voting

Public Citizen

Verified Voting