EXPLAINER: What's with all the election audits?

As they seek to overturn — or at least cast doubts on — the results of the Nov. 3 presidential election, President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have zeroed in on a routine and common process: post-election audits.Until now, the Trump campaign’s flurry of legal challenges hasn’t unearthed any evidence of widespread voter fraud, and election experts as well as state and federal officials have said there was none. If there are discrepancies, state laws trigger a more thorough accounting of votes, although how that’s done varies by state.A post-election audit is different from a recount, which happens when there are a small number of votes separating the candidates or when requested by a candidate.WHERE ARE REPUBLICANS ASKING FOR AUDITS?It’s happening in several states at once.In Arizona, where President-elect Joe Biden won, the state Republican Party asked for a new hand count of a sample of ballots in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and is where most of the state’s population lives. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said he chose to audit the presidential race because of its significance and because of the tight margin between Trump and Biden.