Related papers: $k$-Cut: A Simple Approximately-Uniform Method for…

In the context of election security, a Risk-Limiting Audit (RLA) is a statistical framework that uses a minimal partial recount of the ballots to guarantee that the results of the election were correctly reported. A generalized RLA…

Ranked voting systems, such as instant-runoff voting (IRV) and single transferable vote (STV), are used in many places around the world. They are more complex than plurality and scoring rules, presenting a challenge for auditing their…

For more than a century, election officials across the United States have inspected voting machines before elections using a procedure called Logic and Accuracy Testing (LAT). This procedure consists of election officials casting a test…

Risk-limiting post-election audits limit the chance of certifying an electoral outcome if the outcome is not what a full hand count would show. Building on previous work, we report on pilot risk-limiting audits in four elections during 2008…

We propose a simple common framework for Risk-Limiting and Bayesian (polling) audits for two-candidate plurality elections. Using it, we derive an expression for the general Bayesian audit; in particular, we do not restrict the prior to a…

In this article, we develop efficient sampling algorithms for random surjections from $[n]$ to $[k]$ for all $n \geq k$. We make no assumption about $n$ and $k$. In particular, we do not make the common assumption that the ratio…

In this paper, we study several generalizations of multiway cut where the terminals can be chosen as \emph{representatives} from sets of \emph{candidates} $T_1,\ldots,T_q$. In this setting, one is allowed to choose these representatives so…

We introduce a sampling framework to support approximate computing with estimated error bounds in Spark. Our framework allows sampling to be performed at the beginning of a sequence of multiple transformations ending in an aggregation…

We propose a simple and efficient clustering method for high-dimensional data with a large number of clusters. Our algorithm achieves high-performance by evaluating distances of datapoints with a subset of the cluster centres. Our…

We consider a simple approach to solving assortment optimization under the random utility maximization model. The approach uses Monte-Carlo simulation to construct a ranking-based choice model that serves as a proxy for the true choice…

We consider the problem of minimizing a sum of $n$ functions over a convex parameter set $\mathcal{C} \subset \mathbb{R}^p$ where $n\gg p\gg 1$. In this regime, algorithms which utilize sub-sampling techniques are known to be effective. In…

How can we probabilistically predict the winner in a ranked-choice election without all ballots being counted? In this study, we introduce a novel algorithm designed to predict outcomes in Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) elections. The…

We study randomized algorithms for constrained optimization, in abstract frameworks that include, in strictly increasing generality: convex programming; LP-type problems; violator spaces; and a setting we introduce, consistent spaces. Such…

In this paper we address the problem of electing a committee among a set of $m$ candidates and on the basis of the preferences of a set of $n$ voters. We consider the approval voting method in which each voter can approve as many candidates…

Robust low-rank approximation under row-wise adversarial corruption can be achieved with a single pass, randomized procedure that detects and removes outlier rows by thresholding their projected norms. We propose a scalable, non-iterative…

Risk-limiting audits (RLAs) guarantee a high probability of correcting incorrect reported outcomes before the outcomes are certified. The most efficient use ballot-level comparison, comparing the voting system's interpretation of individual…

In the k-arc connected subgraph problem, we are given a directed graph G and an integer k and the goal is the find a subgraph of minimum cost such that there are at least k-arc disjoint paths between any pair of vertices. We give a simple…

Risk-limiting audits (RLAs) are rigorous statistical procedures meant to detect invalid election results. RLAs examine paper ballots cast during the election to statistically assess the possibility of a disagreement between the winner…

$k$-subset sampling is ubiquitous in machine learning, enabling regularization and interpretability through sparsity. The challenge lies in rendering $k$-subset sampling amenable to end-to-end learning. This has typically involved relaxing…

QuickXsort is a strategy to combine Quicksort with another sorting method X, so that the result has essentially the same comparison cost as X in isolation, but sorts in place even when X requires a linear-size buffer. We solve the…