NJ A5037

Expands post-election audit methods to allow either traditional hand-to-eye counts or independent third-party electronic machines not associated with the official ballot tabulation system

Requires third-party audit machines to be tested and certified by a National Institute of Standards and Technology certified laboratory or U.S. Election Assistance Commission accredited voting system test laboratory at least 24 hours before audit unit selection

Shifts authority for randomly selecting election districts and audit units from the Secretary of State to county boards of elections

Maintains requirement that audits cover at least 2% of election districts for federal, state, and selected county/municipal offices, with audits beginning 13 days after general elections and completing before certification

Requires expanded audits if discrepancies attributable to the electronic counting system would alter any candidate's vote share by 0.1% or more of counted votes in the sample