Audit Report on the Small Procurement Practices of the Board of Elections

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This auditdetermined whether the Board of Elections (Board) complied with applicable purchasing procedures regarding its small procurements, including PPB Rules, Comptroller’s Directives #1, #6, #24, and #25, and its own formal procedures.

The Board generally complied with applicable PPB Rules, Comptroller’s directives, and its own formal procedures, when processing small procurements. Specifically, most purchases were appropriately prepared and authorized. In general, purchases were supported by vendor invoices; invoices were checked for clerical accuracy; and payments matched invoice amounts. In addition, we found no evidence of split purchasing in violation of § 3-08 of the PPB Rules.

However, during Fiscal Year 2001, there were problems with some of the Board’s small procurement purchasing practicesThe Board’s small procurement purchasing practices have improved during Fiscal Year 2003, although the problems still existed to a lesser degree.

To address these issues, we make 11 recommendations that include the following:

• The Board should ensure that bids are solicited in accordance with PPB rules.
• Board officials should ensure that they maintain all the required documents in the procurement files to support purchases and payments.
• Board and OMB officials should find a workable solution to avoid late vendor payments.
• Board officials should ensure that the Board uses Miscellaneous Payment Vouchers according to the circumstances specified in Comptroller’s Directive #25.

The matters covered in this report were discussed with officials from the Board during and at the conclusion of this audit. A preliminary draft report was sent to Board officials and discussed at an exit conference held on April 21, 2003. On April 29, 2003, we submitted a draft report to Board officials with a request for comments.On May 28, 2003, we submitted a draft to OMB officials with a request for comments.We received a written response from the Board on May 13, 2003 and from OMB on June 6, 2003. Board officials generally agreed with the audit’s findings and recommendations, stating:

"The Board wishes to make a global reply to all the recommendations . . . .

"The Board accepts, and will implement TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE all the recommendations contained in this draft audit, dated April 29, 2003. We are gratified to note the recurrent theme in this audit of steady improvement from FY01 to FY03, and pledge to continue said improvements in FY04 and all succeeding years."

In addition, OMB officials stated that they recognize the need for additional appropriations and have increased funding to the Board for Fiscal Year 2004.

Since the Board replied globally and agreed to implement all of the recommendations, we will not respond to individual recommendations.