Researchers at Princeton University have developed an improved method for auditing the results of elections. Princeton is currently seeking an industrial partner to commercialize this technology.
The new method allows an audit that will detect common types of election fraud or malfunction with a high degree of probability. The method combines a machine-conducted audit of some ballots with a manual audit of a smaller number of ballots, thereby combining the cost advantages of machine-conducted audits with the accuracy advantages of hand counted audits. The process uses a novel method to determine the number of ballots to choose in each audit, thereby reducing the number of ballots that need to be audited while still achieving the same statistical confidence in the result that existing methods achieve.
It is anticipated that this technology will be extremely useful in monitoring election results for accuracy.
Patent protection is pending.
For more information please contact:
William H. Gowen
Office of Technology Licensing and Intellectual Property
Princeton University
4 New South Building
Princeton, NJ 08544-0036
(609) 258-6762
(609) 258-1159 fax
wgowen@princeton.edu