If the election is within 1% of the total votes cast and reported on election night, then a close-race audit is triggered in addition to a post-election audit. The county election office shall conduct the audit in an additional 10% of all county precincts in the specified race, with a minimum of one precinct in the county. Per K.A.R. 7-47-1 ballot images cannot be used when conducting an audit. Races that are subject to close-race audit include those for federal and state legislative offices.

The close-race audit is performed by the county(ies) and shall review all ballots selected to ensure the hand vote count is identical to the vote count from the tabulators.