Carter Center Will Monitor Risk-Limiting Audit in Georgia

ATLANTA — Following accreditation by the Georgia secretary of state’s office, The Carter Center will monitor the risk-limiting audit taking place in the state of Georgia. 

Monitors will deploy to a number of county audit boards across the state. As an independent, nonpartisan monitor, The Carter Center will assess the postelection audit and related processes to help bolster transparency and confidence in election results.  

Audits help confirm that the winners of an electoral contest did in fact receive the most votes. The exercise, which is open to the public, reinforces transparency in the electoral system.

“What we’re monitoring is what many people have been calling the hand recount. Because the margin in the presidential race is so close, this sort of audit essentially requires review of every ballot by hand,” said Paige Alexander, the Carter Center’s CEO. “This is unusual, but it provides an opportunity to build trust in the electoral system prior to the state’s certification of results.”

The Carter Center’s monitoring effort is limited to Georgia’s postelection audit of the presidential race and is not part of a broader assessment of the election as a whole. Nevertheless, the Center hopes that its independent monitoring of the audit will help to increase transparency, public knowledge, and confidence in key parts of the election process.

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Contact: Soyia Ellison, associate director of communications, [email protected]

Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.