WINVote is no longer an acceptable voting system for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Virginia State Board of Elections should act to decertify its use as soon as possible, as well as the use of other DRE equipment used in the Commonwealth.

The General Assembly has long made clear its intent that DRE equipment should be phased out, with § 24.2-626 of the Code of Virginia expressly prohibiting the purchase of new DRE equipment by localities, and existing equipment can only be used “for the remainder of their useful life.”

The General Assembly left in House P&E this year HB 2142, which would have prohibited the use of DRE equipment except as accessible equipment after July 1, 2016, and while the GA did not take action, the State Board should do what P&E did not.

WINVote voting equipment, along with almost all other DRE machines used in the Commonwealth use obsolete technology, based on Windows CME or XP platforms, both of which are no longer supported. Numerous localities have experienced improper pre-election screen calibration procedures, which have resulted in voters posting cell phone videos of votes “registering for the wrong candidate” (OK, Officers of Election should have stopped the cell phone use, but….) It is clear that localities do not have the ability to ensure that the existing DRE equipment can be maintained to the standards that they were intended.

Numerous DRE localities experienced EXTENSIVE voting delays in the 2012 presidential election, with Prince William having precincts not closing until almost 11 PM.  Unfortunately, on heavy voter turnout elections, with longer ballots, delays are inevitable as voters go through “multiple pages” or screens, before “casting” their ballot.  As many town and municipal elections have moved from a May to November election cycle, this means that the November ballots will only become longer.  Here in Spotsylvania County, which is one of the localities using WINVote DRE equipment, my wife experienced a wait of over 2 hours to cast her vote in 2012. (As a Chief Election Officer in a neighboring locality, I vote absentee.)  The State Board needs to act NOW to decertify these machines so that localities can purchase Optical Scan equipment that better serves the needs of Virginia citizens.

With Optical Scan voting machines, there only need to be ONE tabulator per Precinct, and the Precinct can be set up with as many cardboard “privacy booths” as necessary to handle voter turnout.  I have worked as the Chief Officer in a Precinct the last 5 years using optical scan equipment, and even with a line going out the door, a voter moves through the line in 15 minutes or less.  In 5 years, our Precinct has tabulated SORs, reported results, taken everything down and been on our way home no later than 7:45 PM.  In case of the need for a recount, the actual ballots the voter used are available to be re-tabulated on another machine, or hand counted.  In case of an error by the voter (over vote) on the ballot, the tabulator rejects the ballot.

People may like technology and convenience with electronic devices, but they also are aware of the potential for computerized equipment to be “hacked”. “Perception”, even if not based in fact, becomes “reality”, and voters will distrust election results from DRE equipment.

Optical Scan equipment is more secure, is faster for voter to use, and is trusted more by voters. Keep DREs if necessary (1 per precinct) for accessibility, or use Auto-Mark equipment to ensure that the voter who uses accessible equipment is guaranteed a private ballot.  Because if only one voter uses the “accessible” equipment, then their votes are known.