Download this press release as an Adobe PDF document. ASA Board adopts position on Electoral Integrity
The Board of Directors of the American
Statistical Association (ASA) today called on the federal government to
take actions, including election audits, that would assure greater
levels of voter confidence in electoral outcomes. The specific actions
recommended by the Board include conducting broader research into the
integrity of elections, providing tools to help election officials
conduct high-integrity elections, and recommending designs of
acceptable ballots as well as procedures for testing ballots on the
actual machines that will be used to record the results.
The Position on Electoral Integrity adopted by the ASA Board at its
March meeting states, "It is critical that the integrity of central
vote tabulations be confirmed by audits of voter-verified hard-copy
records in order to provide high - and clearly specified - levels of
confidence in electoral outcomes… Certification of any electoral
outcome should require substantiating evidence that the putative winner
was the intended selection of the plurality of voters. Compelling
statistical evidence of electoral failure should be accepted as a basis
for judicial remedy.
The ASA statement also encourages state governments to adopt routine
monitoring of all electoral procedures to ensure continuous quality
improvement.
The ASA Board position statement resulted in part from knowledge gained
through the involvement of several ASA members in the controversy
following the contested elections of 2000 (Presidential), 2006 (Florida
Congressional), and the ongoing concern over the need for a paper trail
in the upcoming presidential elections.
"After reviewing reports of statistical evidence of problems in
several recent races," said Peter Lachenbruch, ASA President and Board
Chair, "the Board felt it was important for the ASA to urge
establishment of electoral processes that reaffirm the public's trust
in our elections. Statistical methods can provide confidence in
well-conducted contests. They can also identify common sources of
problems and help avert future electoral failures."
The complete ASA position statement follows:
"Trustworthy elections demand integrity throughout the entire
electoral process, from voting laws and regulations to details of
implementation, including maintaining voter registration lists and a
secure chain of custody for voted ballots. All processes and data of US
elections should be subject to statistically sound, continuous-quality
monitoring and improvement. Data releases should be comprehensive and
timely and follow standardized, readily analyzable formats. It is
critical that the integrity of central vote tabulations be confirmed by
audits of voter-verified hard-copy records in order to provide high --
and clearly specified -- levels of confidence in electoral outcomes.
"The American Statistical Association recommends that the federal
government synthesize and extend existing research into the effects of
various practices on the integrity of elections, and disseminate tools
that help voting officials to efficiently conduct high-integrity
elections. In addition, the federal government should provide examples
of acceptable and unacceptable ballot designs and specify procedures
for adequate pre-testing of ballots on the actual machinery to be used
in the election. The ASA encourages state governments to adopt routine
monitoring of all electoral procedures to ensure continuous quality
improvement. Certification of any electoral outcome should require
substantiating evidence that the putative winner was the intended
selection of the plurality of voters. Compelling statistical evidence
of electoral failure should be accepted as a basis for judicial
remedy."
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