Audits behind closed doors
An audit is supposed to build public trust — but that only works if the public can actually watch it. When an audit happens behind closed doors, you're just being asked to trust a different process you also can't see.
Explainer video coming soon
A 60-second, plain-language walkthrough of this gap.
What actually happened
Election-audit experts are unusually unanimous on this point. The American Statistical Association's Principles and Best Practices for Post-Election Tabulation Audits state plainly that 'elections belong to the public, and the public must be able to observe the audit and verify that it has been conducted correctly.' Observers should include the public, media, and party or candidate representatives, with options like live-streaming — because an audit no one can watch can't do its core job: convincing people.
Where it stands today
This is current practice, not history: where audits aren't required to be publicly observable, they happen out of sight. The figure above reflects what today's rules require.
A check you can't see isn't reassuring
The entire purpose of an audit is to convince the public the count is right. So if the audit itself happens out of sight, it can't do that — you've just traded one process you can't see for another.
Why it matters
Audit experts are unusually unanimous here. The American Statistical Association's principles state that "elections belong to the public, and the public must be able to observe the audit and verify that it has been conducted correctly." Observers should include the public, media, and party/candidate representatives, with options like live-streaming. An audit no one can watch can't build trust.
How TrustVoting closes it
TrustVoting makes the check public: it publishes the verification artifacts, so anyone can observe the audit and independently re-run the verification — rather than accept a closed-door result on faith.
How TrustVoting closes it
TrustVoting makes the check itself public: the verification artifacts are published, so anyone can observe the audit and independently re-run the verification — not take a closed-door result on faith.