MONTGOMERY, Ala. — After a lengthy discussion, the Alabama House passed HB 95, the Alabama Post-Election Audit Act, Thursday.
The bill would require probate judges to conduct an audit after every state and county election. Each county’s canvassing board – the group of elected officials that oversees elections – would randomly select at least one precinct and a statewide or countywide race for the judges to audit after an election.
The House passed a similar bill last year, but the Senate never voted on it.
The bill’s sponsor Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, repeatedly said this bill is not intended to overturn or change election results, rather it is designed to identify any issues in elections and voting machines and provide peace of mind that everything is working well.
“The purpose is to verify that the mechanisms we have in place, the machines we have, are working correctly and accurately, and show that the process that went through this election, everything is working correctly,” Lovvorn said.
Democrats questioned the need for a bill investigating potential election issues after the fact.
“Why not do an audit at the beginning, rather than at the end, when you say it’s not going to affect anything?” said Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile. “… And if the purpose of this legislation is to give folks that confidence and also let them know that there’s integrity in this process, it seems that it will be better suited at the beginning to ensure that nothing will go wrong.”
Others doubted the need for the bill altogether, citing that there is little evidence of election errors in Alabama.
Lovvorn pointed to a “discrepancy” found in a post-election audit pilot program done after the 2022 general election, but he did not provide specifics about what kind of issue was found.
The cost of the auditing was another sticking point for opposition.
The bill’s fiscal note estimated the audits across the state would cost a minimum of $35,000 per day. The state would reimburse counties for audit costs after the fact, and some lawmakers expressed concerns about how this would affect smaller counties with smaller reserves to draw from.
Rep. Sam Jones, D-Mobile, said he’s never seen a one-day audit and that he has a problem with the potential cost to the state if the probate judges decide to audit multiple precincts.
“There’s no limit,” Jones said. “If (the probate judges) decide they want to audit eight precincts, I don’t see anything here to say they can’t do that. They can order eight precincts for whatever period of time it takes, at a minimum of $35,000.”
Lovvorn said the audits won’t be expensive in most cases because they will be simple and quick.
“For instance, if a precinct takes those votes, walks over to the tabulator of ballots and just sets them in there and lets it run,” Lovvorn said. “It shouldn’t take a lot of time, and so the amount of time needed to conduct the audit should be minimal.”
The bill passed by a vote of 72-25. It now moves to the Senate.