Sore Losers? The Effect of Post-Election Audit Procedure on Voter Confidence in US Presidential Elections

This research examines a crucial step in the electoral certification process: the post-election audit, and its impact on voter confidence at national and subnational levels. Using data from the Survey on the Performance of American Elections, this research uses a multi-level conception of voter confidence to examine the impact of post-election audits on public confidence in election results. Additionally, this paper further investigates the relationship between election certification procedure and voter confidence by examining the mediating relationship between political elite rhetoric and post-election audits. This research provides convincing evidence that the impact of post-election audits is heavily mediated by political elites, especially at the state level of voter confidence. Specifically, partisans who voted for the losing candidate were more skeptical of vote tabulations as a result of audits, compared to similar voters in states without audits.Bachelor of Art