How to Weaponize Risk-Limiting Audits to Discredit an Election
Carsten Schürmann analyzes how bad-faith actors weaponize Risk-Limiting Audits (RLAs) and audit misunderstandings in election disinformation campaigns.
Summary
The Promise and Assumptions of Risk-Limiting Audits
Risk-Limiting Audits (RLAs) are widely considered the gold standard of statistical election verification, designed to provide mathematical evidence that reported outcomes match paper ballots.
The Vulnerability of Audits to Weaponization
Carsten Schürmann demonstrates how nuanced statistical parameters—such as sample selection anomalies and ballot discrepancies—can be twisted by bad-faith actors to manufacture distrust.
Case Studies in Audit Exploitation
Schürmann analyzes how minor clerical discrepancies discovered during audit sampling are amplified on social media to falsely claim systemic fraud.
Designing Resilient and Transparent Audit Communications
The author provides election officials with communication strategies and public-facing audit protocols to ensure statistical transparency without fueling conspiracy theories.
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