Fond du Lac, Wis. – Residents in the City of Fond du Lac can be confident that votes were counted accurately in the November General Election following the completion of a post-election audit of voting equipment used in the City of Fond du Lac for the Nov. 5, 2024, election. On November 26, 2024, election workers completed an audit of voting equipment in three reporting units (Wards 1, 6 & 13) in the City of Fond du Lac, which were randomly selected for audit by the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) during an event open to the public. The audit provides an additional way to ensure that voting machines worked properly, and that the election was conducted accurately. Wisconsin Statute § 7.08(6) requires a post-election audit of voting systems used in Wisconsin after each General Election. During the audit, election officials check to make sure the vote
totals compiled by the voting equipment on Election Night are accurate by conducting an independent hand count of ballots and tallying the results of the selected contests. The final hand-count tally total is compared to the election night voting system results. The audit of the election results confirmed their accuracy, validating the original outcome with no significant discrepancies found. Audit materials are submitted to the WEC for review. The WEC analyzes the audit results and investigates any discrepancies and can request that a voting machine vendor investigate and provide explanation for any discrepancies. Once this work is complete, WEC staff will prepare a public report for review by the six Commissioners during an upcoming Commission meeting. Post-election audits, covering approximately 10% of the reporting units in the state, serve as a final check on the election results. While not every reporting unit or municipality is selected for post-election audit, state election officials ensured that the 2024 sample included at least one
reporting unit per county, and at least five reporting units for each type of equipment used. Discrepancies in the vote totals are infrequently reported, and if they are, they are typically due to human error, which election officials then work to prevent by developing new training protocols. In a separate pre-election voting equipment test that occurs before every election for each tabulator, programming is verified by feeding a set of pre-marked ballots into each machine and reviewing the results tape that is generated. An errorless count is required at the conclusion of the testing. Additionally, election officials at the county and state level review state and federal election results for any discrepancies before they are certified by the chair of the WEC. More information about the 2024 post-election audit can be found here:
https://elections.wi.gov/2024-voting-equipment-audit Information about audits generally can be found here: https://elections.wi.gov/elections/voting-equipment-wisconsin/voting-equipment-security
