Audit, according to Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary, means (a) a formal
examination of an organization's or individual's accounts or financial situation,
and (b) a methodical examination and review. ‘Election Auditing’, therefore,
means performing a methodical examination and review of the election process.
A standard, straightforward description of the audit of an election might mean
assessing if all eligible voters have been allowed to cast their votes in a free and
fair manner. At the first glance, it might mean observing the process of polling that
goes on every, or a sample of, polling booths, and then forming inferences based on those observations. However, as usual, first glances often hide more than they reveal.
The real and comprehensive view of the election process will show that it is embedded
in and is reflective of the entire political process in a society. In a way, it is the outcome of how the entire political activity in the society as a whole operates, functions, and is organized—if it is organized at all! While the concrete election process may be considered to start with drawing up of voter lists or electoral rolls and nominations of candidates to contest the election, the real process of elections is an ongoing broader social process in which individuals continually work to make themselves eligible or preferable for getting elected, and political parties and other
groups keep working to ensure their success in the forthcoming elections.