In November, Boise State accounting students participated in Idaho’s post election audit, an important process for ensuring the state’s election integrity. Conducted by the Secretary of State’s Office, election audits have been required by Idaho law following each primary and general election since 2022.
Past Idaho election audits were conducted by party officials and volunteers. However, this year Tim Sturges, Ada County accounting controller and Boise State accounting alum, reached out to Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) advisor Kathy Hurley to see if accounting students might be interested in assisting. BAP is an international honor society for accounting, finance and information students.
“It’s a great opportunity for students to see how well the elections are controlled,” Hurley said. “And the Secretary of State is hoping to get a new generation more interested in elections. Think about when you go to the polls–the workers tend to be retired folks. It’s important to get young people involved in elections and aware of how important it is to vote.”
On Nov. 15, eight Idaho counties were randomly selected to undergo audits. The next day, audit teams began traveling to those counties to hand-count ballots. A total of 14 Boise State accounting students and one faculty member and her spouse took part. An unexpected highlight for many was the opportunity to fly in state planes to some of the more remote counties. Volunteers were paid a daily stipend and also received a per diem for food.
“Partnering with the accounting students from Boise State brought a fresh perspective, energy, and professionalism to this year’s post-election audits,” said Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane. “We are extremely grateful to the audit teams from Beta Alpha Psi and their wonderful advisor, Kathy Hurley. Accuracy and transparency are at the heart of Idaho’s election system, and these audits are essential for ensuring accountability and fostering public trust. Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of these students, we successfully completed audits in counties all across Idaho in less than a week, reassuring Idahoans that their voices were heard and their votes counted. It is truly inspiring to see such commitment from students engaging in the electoral process.”
How the auditing process works
During the audits, participants were divided into teams of four, with assigned roles: a caller, an observer, and two talliers (the accounting students served as observers and talliers). Working with a sample of at least 2,100 ballots, the caller would read each voter’s selection in the race they were auditing while the observer ensured the caller said the correct candidate’s name. Meanwhile, the talliers marked tally sheets to keep track of the number of votes for each candidate. Every time a candidate reached five votes, the talliers called out “hash” at the same time to signal that their counts were in sync.
Because the counting could get monotonous, the students found creative ways to help them concentrate.
“It felt a little bit like playing the game Bop-It,” accounting senior Alex Wix said. “As the caller read candidates off, we had to really pay attention to make sure we were tallying for the right candidate. It took a lot of focus. I felt like a kid reacting to a Bop-It toy’s quick commands: Twist-it! Pull-it! Bop-it!”
Once the hand count was complete and all votes were tallied, the audit results were compared against the original vote counts. If even one vote was off, the Secretary of State leaders and the County clerk team would initiate the process for ascertaining and reconciling the error. One time this meant recounting over 1,000 ballots. These differences could be due to human error during the audit, ballots that had stuck together or a ballot that had been set aside. Ultimately, all of the audits matched up with the original vote totals, clearing the way for the certification of the election results.
A new view on Idaho elections
Taking part in the audit provided an invaluable opportunity for students to get involved in the community, and see firsthand how elections are managed.
“It changed my perspective,” said Nick Lloyd, BAP president and accounting and finance senior. “I thought the audit was a double check system, but it was really a quadruple check on everything. The main purpose was to recount, but also to find errors in their systems and ways to improve the process. It was a great experience. Everyone that went loved it.”
As the Boise State students traveled to different counties for the audits, they also heard good feedback on their efforts.
“They told us that this year’s audits went more smoothly than in the past, thanks to our group of accounting students being able to stay focused and follow the audit process,” Wix said. “And it was a fun and rewarding experience.”
The State Board of Canvassers met on Nov. 26 to certify the election results, present the audit findings, and recognized BAP’s role in the audits. BAP was given a plaque to thank them for a job well done. Secretary of State Phil McGrane lauded the Boise State students for their focus and dedication to making sure the process went smoothly.
“We’re excited to continue our participation,” Hurley said. “Overall the audit was very well organized and it was a great experience. We hope to keep this partnership going into the future.”