2022 General Post Election Audit Preliminary Results
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – On Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2002, Idaho Secretary of State Lawerence Denney announced the completion of the 2022 General Post-Election Audit. Senate Bill 1274, signed into law by the Governor this past session, created a post-election audit after each primary and general election. The counties were chosen by random ball draw weighted proportionally to their population, after which precincts from within those counties were selected.
The eight counties were randomly drawn on Friday, Nov. 18 in the Lincoln Auditorium in the Idaho Capitol Building. The five audit teams, consisting of staff from the Secretary of State’s Office and party representatives from the Democratic and Republican parties, were dispatched for three days to the following counties:
- Ada
- Bonner
- Bonneville
- Kootenai
- Minidoka
- Nez Perce
- Oneida
- Shoshone
These results, while only numerical in nature, are the common starting point for the post-election audit – the comparison of a hand count of a randomly selected group of ballots, from a randomly selected group of counties – to the results published for those in the county canvass and on the county election websites. In addition to the hand recount of ballots, the postelection audit included an examination of the ballot inventory and usage for the Election Day, and when possible, Early Voting ballots for the precincts selected. The findings are as follows:
| Ada (3 Precincts, 1 Early Voting Machine, and 14 Absentee Batches) | |||||||
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast | |||
| Official County Canvass | 1,350 | 2,541 | 307 | 4,198 | |||
| SOS Audit | 1,350 | 2,542 | 306 | 4,198 | |||
| Difference | 0 | 1 | (1) | 0 | |||
| All of the precincts, early voting tabulation machines, and absentee ballot batches audited matched exactly the results reported in the county’s official canvass, and the results reported on the county’s elections website, with the exception of a single ballot from those processed by early voting machine EV 3-2, where one ballot counted by the tabulator as an overvote or undervote was hand counted as a “No” vote by the audit team. This is not uncommon to see with an occasional ballot, given the binary nature of how a machine tabulator reads a ballot, versus a human eye in a hand count, which can be more discerning as to voter intent. | |||||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | ||||||
| Ballot Supply | 4,103 | ||||||
| Ballots Cast | 1,754 | ||||||
| Ballots Spoiled | 64 | ||||||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 2,285 | ||||||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 2,285 | ||||||
| Difference | 0 |
The ballot inventory of Election Day ballots in the three Ada County precincts examined matched Ada County’s records perfectly.
Total ballots counted in this audit were 4,198.
| Bonner (3 Precincts) | ||||
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast |
| Official County Canvass | 1,064 | 837 | 150 | 2,051 |
| SOS Audit | 1,064 | 837 | 150 | 2,051 |
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in three Bonner County precincts matched exactly with the results reported in the county’s official canvass. | ||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | |||
| Ballot Supply | 2,400 | |||
| Ballots Cast | 1,490 | |||
| Ballots Spoiled | 4 | |||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 906 | |||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 906 | |||
| Difference | 0 |
The ballot inventory of Election Day ballots in the three Bonner County precincts examined matched Bonner County’s records perfectly. On the day of the in-person audit visit, there was originally an extra ballot in the inventory count, but it was later determined that there was one absentee ballot mixed in with the Election Day ballots. Once this ballot was put in its proper absentee storage, the numbers matched exactly.
Total Ballots counted in audit = 2,051.
| Bonneville (4 Precincts and 8 Absentee Batches) | ||||
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast |
| Official County Canvass | 1,195 | 1,030 | 290 | 2,515 |
| SOS Audit | 1,199 | 1,028 | 289 | 2,516 |
| Difference | 4 | (2) | (1) | 1 |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in Bonneville County reflected a variance of four additional yes votes, two fewer no votes, and one fewer overvote/undervote, when compared to the county’s official canvass. These variances are confined to the Election Day and Early Voting ballots, and are likely due to a combination of sorting issues during the audit, and a faint marking in the ”yes” bubble, which the audit team counted as a “yes” vote, and which the tabulation machine likely did not pick up, and counted as an undervote. | ||||
| Early & ED Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | |||
| Ballot Supply | 3,780 | |||
| Ballots Cast | 2,121 | |||
| Ballots Spoiled | 18 | |||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 1,641 | |||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 1,641 | |||
| Difference | 0 |
The ballot inventory of Election Day and early voting ballots in the four Bonneville County precincts examined matched Bonneville County’s records, in total. However, one of these precincts was short a ballot in the vote count which also made the ballot inventory county short by one. In another precinct their election day count was up by one vote which also made their ballot inventory up by one. Combined, the inventory totals balance to zero difference.
Total ballots counted in audit = 2,516.
| Kootenai (3 Precincts) | |||||
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast | |
| Official County Canvass | 1,445 | 834 | 184 | 2,463 | |
| SOS Audit | 1,445 | 834 | 184 | 2,463 | |
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in three Kootenai County precincts matched exactly with the results reported in the county’s official canvass. | |||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | ||||
| Ballot Supply | 2,596 | ||||
| Ballots Cast | 1,554 | ||||
| Ballots Spoiled | 12 | ||||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 1,030 | ||||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 1,030 | ||||
| Difference | 0 |
The ballot inventory of Election Day ballots in the three Kootenai County precincts examined matched Kootenai County’s records perfectly.
Total ballots counted in audit = 2,463.
Minidoka (5 Precincts)
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast | |
| Official County Canvass | 1,186 | 841 | 131 | 2,158 | |
| SOS Audit | 1,186 | 841 | 131 | 2,158 | |
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in five Minidoka County precincts matched exactly with the results reported in the county’s official canvass. | |||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | ||||
| Ballot Supply | 3,000 | ||||
| Ballots Cast | 1,678 | ||||
| Ballots Spoiled | 59 | ||||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 1,263 | ||||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 1,263 | ||||
| Difference | 0 |
The ballot inventory of Election Day ballots in the five Minidoka County precincts examined matched Minidoka County’s records perfectly.
Total ballots counted in audit = 2,158
Nez Perce (5 Precincts)
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast | ||
| Official County Canvass | 538 | 515 | 75 | 1,128 | ||
| SOS Audit | 538 | 515 | 75 | 1,128 | ||
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ballot Tally - LD 6 Senate | Nelson (D) | Foreman (R) | Hartley (C) | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast | |
| Official County Canvass | 418 | 544 | 14 | 15 | 991 | |
| SOS Audit | 418 | 544 | 14 | 15 | 991 | |
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in five Nez Perce County precincts matched exactly with the results reported in the county’s official canvass. | ||||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | |||||
| Ballot Supply | 3,001 | |||||
| Ballots Cast | 1,128 | |||||
| Ballots Spoiled | 9 | |||||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 1,864 | |||||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 1,864 | |||||
| Difference | 0 |
Nez Perce County had one precinct in which one ballot could not be accounted for initially in the inventory audit. The audit team missed a spoiled ballot that the County Clerk was able to provide documentation of. As a result, all four precincts’ ballot inventory audit of Election Day ballots matched Nez Perce County’s records perfectly.
Total ballots counted in audit = 2,119.
Oneida (Whole County - 6 Precincts)
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast |
| Official County Canvass | 933 | 608 | 111 | 1,652 |
| SOS Audit | 932 | 608 | 112 | 1,652 |
| Difference | (1) | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in Oneida County reflected a variance of one yes vote when compared to the county’s official canvass. The reason for this variance was a single ballot with a faint marking in the ”yes” bubble, which the audit team likely counted as an overvote/undervote vote, and which the tabulation machine likely counted as a “yes” vote. | ||||
| 4-Precinct All-Ballots Inventory | Audit Totals | |||
| Ballot Supply | 3,000 | |||
| Ballots Cast | 1,510 | |||
| Ballots Spoiled & Unreturned AB | 83 | |||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 1,407 | |||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 1,407 | |||
| Difference | 0 |
The team audited the ballot inventory of the four Oneida County precincts in which in-person voting occurred. There were two precincts that were a ballot short in the inventory audit. However, the County Clerk was subsequently able to locate and document each. One was a spoiled absentee ballot still in its envelope that was hand delivered and reissued in the election office at the request of the voter. This ballot was found with the used absentee ballot envelopes that had been processed on Election Day. The other was also a spoiled absentee ballot that the vote tabulator was unable to read on Election Day, and so the Clerk’s elections team had to adjudicate and duplicate it. This spoiled ballot could not be found at the time the audit team was on site, but the Clerk was later able to locate it once he moved his search to the correct box of precinct materials, and provided the audit staff with documentation of this.
Total ballots counted in audit = 1,652
Shoshone (7 Precincts)
| Ballot Tally - SJR 2 | Yes | No | Overvotes & Undervotes | Total Ballots Cast |
| Official County Canvass | 983 | 839 | 256 | 2,078 |
| SOS Audit | 983 | 839 | 256 | 2,078 |
| Difference | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| The results of the hand recount audit of ballots cast in seven Shoshone County precincts matched exactly with the results reported in the county’s official canvass. | ||||
| Election Day Ballot Inventory | Audit Totals | |||
| Ballot Supply | 2,452 | |||
| Ballots Cast | 2,001 | |||
| Ballots Spoiled | 37 | |||
| Expected Ballots Remaining | 414 | |||
| Actual Ballots Remaining | 414 | |||
| Difference | 0 | |||
The ballot inventory of Election Day ballots in the seven Shoshone County precincts examined matched Shoshone County’s records perfectly.
Total ballots counted in audit = 2,078.
