Harrisburg, PA – Today, the Department of State began Pennsylvania’s statewide risk-limiting election audit (RLA) of the May 20, 2025, primary.
“This is our sixth statewide risk-limiting audit since the 2022 general election,” Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt said. “RLAs are proven to be the highest standard of comprehensive election audits because the RLA process provides a statistically sound, scientific method for confirming, with a high degree of confidence, that the reported outcome of the audited election is accurate.”
Ten Department employees took turns rolling 10-sided dice to deliver the random 20-digit “seed number,” which is used to determine which batches of ballots counties will audit over the next several days.
The livestream of the event continues the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to transparency in election administration in the Commonwealth.
A random-selection drawing on May 23, also livestreamed, resulted in the selection of the contest for the Republican nomination for Judge of Commonwealth Court for this RLA.
During the audit, county officials will hand-tally the randomly selected ballot batches, then compare those vote counts to the original machine counts for the selected race. Known as a “batch comparison” type of RLA, this pre-certification audit can confirm whether counties accurately tabulated paper ballots so that a full hand count would produce the same reported outcome.
The RLA will be carried out in addition to the 2% statutorily required review that counties must perform after each primary and general election in Pennsylvania. For that review, county officials are required to conduct a statistical recount of a random sample of at least 2% of all ballots cast, or 2,000 ballots, whichever is fewer.
Counties must complete the RLA by June 5, and they must certify all election results to Schmidt by June 9.
History of RLAs in PA
In 2019, the Department convened a post-election audit workgroup. The workgroup researched, discussed, and experimented with different types of RLAs, and it assisted many counties through pilot RLAs over the course of three years. In its 2020 report, the workgroup – which included multiple county and state election administrators – recommended that Pennsylvania use this batch-comparison type of RLA.
In September 2022, the Department issued a directive instructing counties to conduct a pre-certification RLA after every election, beginning with that year’s general election.
For more information about RLAs, visit the Department’s website.