MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An extensive audit of the November election in Wisconsin, where President Donald Trump emerged victorious, has confirmed that not a single vote was counted incorrectly, altered, or missed by tabulating machines. The audit, conducted by local elections officials, was comprehensive and aimed to reinforce the integrity of the electoral process.
The findings of the audit, released recently by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, indicated no evidence of hacking or tampering with voting machines or software. This audit solidifies confidence in the security of electronic voting systems and will be discussed further in a meeting scheduled for Friday.
In the context of the election, Trump won Wisconsin by a margin of just over 29,000 votes. This victory stands in contrast to the previous 2020 election, where Trump was defeated by Joe Biden by a narrow margin of approximately 21,000 votes. In that election cycle, allegations of widespread fraud emerged from Trump and his supporters, claiming irregularities in Wisconsin's voting process. However, their assertions were thoroughly examined through two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm, and multiple state and federal lawsuits, all of which failed to substantiate the claims of fraud.
Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin's top elections official, emphasized that the recent audit outcomes demonstrate the effective administration of elections in the state. She expressed hope that the findings would help dispel misinformation and disinformation surrounding the security of voting systems, ensuring the public remains confident in the electoral process.
This post-election audit is mandated by state law and has been performed after each general election since 2006. In the latest audit for the 2024 election, local election officials from 336 randomly selected municipalities conducted hand-counts of 327,230 ballots, representing nearly 10% of all ballots cast during the election. This audit marked the largest post-election review undertaken in Wisconsin's history.
While the audit confirmed the accuracy of vote-counting machines, it revealed that the only errors found were human errors, not machine failures. Specifically, only five errors were identified, resulting in an astonishing error rate of 0.0000009%. Ann Jacobs, the chair of the elections commission, highlighted the significance of these findings, stating that they should provide reassurance to individuals across the political spectrum regarding the reliability of voting tabulators. She pointed out that losing a candidate does not necessarily imply electoral fraud; rather, it reflects that the opposing candidate garnered more votes.
The audit thus serves to reinforce the integrity of the electoral process in Wisconsin, aiming to mitigate concerns about the validity of election outcomes associated with technology. By demonstrating the accuracy of the voting system, officials are striving to foster trust and confidence in the electoral process among voters throughout the state.
