Prices

Full Ballot Image Audits of “Clean” Election Data

Complete independent retabulation of all contests on scanned images of all ballot sheets, both hand-marked paper ballots and BMD ballots.

OCR processing for all BMD ballots; no QR or barcodes used to evaluate votes, but limited use of barcodes allowed for style and precinct numbers.

Comparison of all ballots with the Cast-Vote Record (CVR) file on a ballot-by-ballot basis. Discrepancy report provides details of any variations between the CVR and AuditEngine evaluation. Includes comparison with voting-system adjudication records if provided (Dominion Voting Systems only).

Currently supports ES&S and Dominion Voting Systems.

Results

• Standard automated reports and an automated narrative report included, providing discrepancy, contest, and precinct breakdowns.
• Initial reports generated normally within 7 days of getting full data (unless opting for Quick Turnaround, QTA).
• Election staff and, optionally, the public can review any discrepancies through our portal and provide human-eye evaluations to fine-tune the results based on your needs.
• Custom Narrative Report and any Special Investigation reports: $10,000 Each.
• Full auditable stage reports and audit trail data exports.

Base Price

• $5,000 for the first 25,000 sheets (two images per sheet), $0.07 per sheet thereafter.
• 5% discount for repeat customers in the same jurisdiction.
• Multiple jurisdictions and contracts to audit a full state may receive additional discounts.

Verification Images and Scanning

• Verification image evaluation: $5,000 for up to 10,000 sheets, $0.07 per sheet thereafter.
• Scanning: $5,000 minimum and $0.15 per sheet after the first 10,000 sheets, or can be done on non-voting system scanners by an independent team supervised by the election staff. This is separate from image verification (above).
• See ScanEngine documentation

Data Requirements

• Ballot images created by the voting system must be archived into ZIP archives, 20,000 to 25,000 sheets per archive (approximately 10GB per archive maximum for ease of handling).
• Cast Vote Records (CVR) in election system format (.xlsx (ES&S), .json, or .csv (Dominion)) must include ballot style and full ballot ID numbers correlated with ballot images. CVR must be available for metadata if BMDs do not indicate style in images (without using vote-encoding QR Codes – Dominion Only).
• Ballot Style Masters (PDFs) of handmarked paper ballot styles must include all timing marks and style barcodes for all styles. If not available, Manual Mapping is available at additional charge.
• Result file including detailed results for each contest in summary.csv standard format.
• Hash Values file, preferably digitally signed, in standard format (see Sending Election Data to AuditEngine
• Optional Verification Images: Must be carefully named so a resort of the files will put them in the same order as scanned, to make sure any second page is after the first page. One or two image files per sheet, must be organized by precinct or contest to match voting system groups. (See ScanEngine Documentation

Additional Charges Schedule

The following charges are based on most of the variations we have seen in the audits in Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and New Jersey. If you produce clean election data, then you can avoid these costs!

Service	When Required	Price
Manual Mapping	Required if Ballot Style Masters are not provided.	$2,500 minimum includes 25 styles, $25 per style thereafter.
Quick Turnaround (QTA):	Offered to election officials when working under “Cooperative Workflow”. AuditEngine can provide an initial tabulation within ~24 hours after receiving ballot images if working with the election office under “Cooperative Workflow”. Full comparison report is provided after receiving the cast vote records (normally within 1 week of receiving CVR records). Requires configuration data including ballot style masters and full election information in advance of the election.	Add 20% and at least $3,000.
Handle Inconsistent or non-unique contest names	Occurs if these variations are not provided in advance using the Election Information File (EIF) or as job file parameters.	$1,000 minimum for up to 10 discrepancies, $100 each after that.
Non-standard hand-marked ballot formats:	Depends on what is used by the jurisdiction.	$2,500 extra for landscape formats – landscape formats require a consistent mark to indicate the orientation of the reverse side (ES&S). $2,500 extra for grid formats.
Complex and indirect style design	Style must match numbering encoded on the ballots and if not uniformly assigned between non-BMD and BMD ballots. I.e. style designation in CVR must match style encoded on ballots.	$2,500 extra (minimum)
If data is not uploaded directly to our cloud datacenter:	Upload data directly to avoid this overhead.	$1,000 fee per thumb drive (we provide drives). $500 per zoom session for debugging client-side security issues.
Public Portal:	Basic portal allows members of the public to explore ballot images and CVR records, only available with full audits.	Six Months: $6,000

Assumptions

• NDAs, privacy agreements, or confidentiality requirements are not included with basic cost and would have to be separately evaluated.
• All data is considered public information unless otherwise provided.
• All liability is limited to the price of the contract.

Additional Services

• Require consulting retainer agreement of $5,000 minimum if additional research or services are required, normal rate is $175/hr.
• All work performed off-site except for any (optional) physical ballot scanning.
• Additional agreement negotiations require consulting agreement.
• Multiple-jurisdiction and statewide contracts may be separately negotiated.