Pierce County Wraps Random Audit Of Election Ballots

TACOMA, WA — The Pierce County Auditor's Office is celebrating a successful audit of the Nov. 2 general election.

While the full results of the general election are still being tabulated, and the county won't certify the election until Nov. 23, Thursday's random audit of ballots helps ensure that each voter's ballot was correctly processed.

As the auditor's office explains, the audit works by having political observers pick a random batch of 150+ ballots. The observers then hand count the results of those ballots, and compare them against the results of the machine count, certifying that the machine is accurately counting each of the 177,000+ ballots that Pierce County voters returned this election.

In particular, this year's audit looked at the Clover Park School District's Director District No. 3 race between Alyssa Anderson Pearson and Jeff Brown, and found no inconsistencies between the hand tally and the machine count — a sign that everything is working as intended.

The results of Thursday's audit have been made available to the public as part of the Pierce County Auditor's Office's ongoing efforts to address fears about election fraud or miscounts, something that has been a growing part of the political landscape since former President Donald Trump and former Washington gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp both refused to accept the results of the 2020 election. More information on election security can be found on Pierce County's website.

>> See the full results of Pierce County's audit.