Offer To Audit The 2026 General Election Using Ballot Images
CitizensOversight (2026-11-05) RayLutz
This Page:
copswiki.org/Common/M2066
More Info: ElectionAudits
Letter sent by email on 2026-11-05 to the Alaska Director of Elections.
The letter as sent: M2066_letter_to_Alaska.pdf
Citizens' Oversight Projects (COPs)
771 Jamacha Rd #148
El Cajon, CA 92019
raylutz@CitizensOversight.org
(619) 784-6268
November 5, 2026
Carol Beecher
Director of Elections
Division of Elections
PO Box 110017
Juneau, AK 99811-0017
carol.beecher@alaska.gov
elections@alaska.gov
REF: M2066
SUBJ: Offer To Audit The 2026 General Election Using Ballot Images
Dear Director Beecher:
Citizens' Oversight has developed AuditEngine, a platform for conducting independent ballot-image audits by processing all ballot images and comparing our independent interpretation of voter selections with the Cast Vote Records (CVRs) generated by the voting system.
The November 3, 2026 election highlighted the Senate contest in Alaska, and we want to help.
This election presents an especially important opportunity for such an audit. The U.S. Senate contest is extremely close, has attracted national attention, and uses Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).
AuditEngine can independently evaluate every ballot, including reading the human-readable selections on ballot-marking-device (BMD) ballots without relying on barcodes or QR codes. Our proposed audit would cover all ballots and all contests, including the ranked-choice contests, rather than focusing exclusively on the Senate race.
We compare our evaluation of every ballot to the CVR, sheet by sheet, and we also confirm the RCV calculations. Our audits tend to find a few minor differences in the interpretation of marks on hand-marked ballots. But we can also detect many other issues, such as mistaken repeated uploads of polling place data or configuration mistakes.
Alaska is particularly well-suited for this effort because its elections are administered statewide, avoiding the complexities of coordinating with many county election jurisdictions, as is the case in other states. We can typically complete the processing and comparison within a few days after receiving the necessary files, allowing the audit to be conducted during the canvass period, assuming clean data.
We already have grant funding available to complete this audit. We would not require funding from the Division of Elections. Or, if it is better for you, we are willing to work under contract.
Our requirements are straightforward:
- Cast Vote Records: These are already provided on your website, and we can download them directly.
- Ballot images: We would need the ballot images generated by the voting system, preferably exported into ZIP archives and uploaded to our server. Alternatively, we can accept the files on USB drives shipped to our office.
Citizens' Oversight has conducted numerous ballot-image audits using election records obtained from Florida, Georgia, Maryland, California, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Texas. We recently completed a pilot audit for San Francisco that included ranked-choice voting contests.
These audits allow us to provide useful feedback to election officials, including identification of discrepancies, ballot interpretation issues, and opportunities to improve election procedures. An independent audit can also provide valuable evidence to help address challenges or questions concerning the accuracy of election results.
We can provide testimonials from election officials and community organizations that have benefited from our work.
We would very much appreciate your cooperation in making the ballot images available so that we can conduct this independent audit of Alaska's 2026 general election. We believe this could provide a significant benefit to your office and to the public, particularly given the national interest in the Senate contest.
Please see https://auditengine.org for additional information about our methodology and prior audits. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have or arrange a brief discussion.
Sincerely,
Raymond Lutz
Executive Director, Citizens Oversight
https://citizensoversight.org
https://auditengine.org
Citizens' Oversight is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
P.S. Please see this backgrounder document about AuditEngine: https://copswiki.org/Common/M1986