---
type: "Bill"
title: "Relating to election audits."
description: "Permits county clerk to decide whether to conduct hand count of ballots or risk-limiting audit following each primary, general or special election. Establishes requirements for risk-limiting audit. Requires that records relating to risk-limiting audit or hand count of ballots be retained for two years."
jurisdiction: "us/states/or"
legislature: "Oregon Legislative Assembly"
session: "2019 Regular Session"
identifier: "SB 944"
citation: "Oregon SB 944 (2019 Regular Session)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Diego Hernandez", "Lew Frederick", "Tim Knopp"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 19
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2019-03-04T17:37:28+00:00"
last_action: "2019-07-23T17:39:36+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cd781952-19f4-4e76-8eed-87abde2dbbb5"
source_url: "https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Measures/Overview/SB944"
source_hash: "297fe14823c6d0bc0af59e504b8030413303319d9a729e885ad8fc6b09fc3108"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-or"]
---

# Oregon SB 944 (2019 Regular Session) — Relating to election audits.

Permits county clerk to decide whether to conduct hand count of ballots or risk-limiting audit following each primary, general or special election. Establishes requirements for risk-limiting audit. Requires that records relating to risk-limiting audit or hand count of ballots be retained for two years.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB944/Introduced)
2. **Senate Amendments to Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB944/Senate Amendments to Introduced)
3. **A-Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB944/A-Engrossed)
4. **SRULES Amendment -1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/ProposedAmendment/16117)
5. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://olis.leg.state.or.us/liz/2019R1/Downloads/MeasureDocument/SB944/Enrolled)

## Votes

- Heard and Reported Out — **5–0** (pass) · lower
- Third reading. Carried by Frederick. Passed. — **26–2** (pass) · upper
- Heard and Reported Out with Amendments — **3–0** (pass) · upper
- Third reading. Carried by Smith Warner. Passed. — **55–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Diego Hernandez — primary (person)
- Lew Frederick — primary (person)
- Tim Knopp — primary (person)
- Alissa Keny-Guyer — cosponsor (person)
- Arnie Roblan — cosponsor (person)
- James Manning Jr. — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer Williamson — cosponsor (person)
- Kathleen Taylor — cosponsor (person)
- Mike Nearman — cosponsor (person)
- Rob Wagner — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-03-04T17:37:28+00:00** Introduction and first reading. Referred to President's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2019-03-06T16:32:23+00:00** Referred to Rules. `referral-committee`
- **2019-04-10T20:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2019-05-13T20:02:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2019-05-17T16:02:52+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass with amendments. (Printed A-Eng.) `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-05-20T17:44:52+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2019-05-21T18:25:43+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Frederick. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-05-22T15:59:24+00:00** First reading. Referred to Speaker's desk. `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2019-05-28T17:57:19+00:00** Referred to Rules. `referral-committee`
- **2019-06-10T22:01:00+00:00** Public Hearing held.
- **2019-06-13T22:32:00+00:00** Work Session held.
- **2019-06-14T21:20:19+00:00** Recommendation: Do pass. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2019-06-18T03:26:31+00:00** Second reading. `reading-2`
- **2019-06-18T22:37:43+00:00** Third reading. Carried by Smith Warner. Passed. `passage, reading-3`
- **2019-06-24T22:53:53+00:00** President signed. `passage`
- **2019-06-25T15:12:43+00:00** Speaker signed. `passage`
- **2019-07-15T16:31:00+00:00** Governor signed. `executive-signature`
- **2019-07-23T17:36:36+00:00** Chapter 562, 2019 Laws.
- **2019-07-23T17:39:36+00:00** Effective date, January 1, 2020.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cd781952-19f4-4e76-8eed-87abde2dbbb5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Oregon legislature records).