The City of Fairfax Electoral Board has grave concerns in regard to the recent actions of the Department of Elections directed towards WinVote voting equipment. Specifically, the Department of Elections has unilaterally decided WinVote equipment does not meet the needs of all localities and the voters of Virginia, and with little notice, announced a public meeting to discuss a flawed Interim Report on DRE voting equipment and the certification status of the WinVote system. It is clear the intent of the Department of Elections is to decertify the WinVote equipment.

The studies and surveys of WinVote equipment directed and just made available by the Department of Elections are significantly flawed.  It appears the Department of Elections decided the investigation of voting equipment would ignore the manufacture of the WinVote equipment and localities which have a continuous positive experience with WinVote equipment. To state the concern clearly, the City of Fairfax Electoral Board believes the Department of Elections has unilaterally decided to decertify WinVote equipment and to support that predetermined result, has selectively extracted from Department of Elections directed audits/studies and surveys "findings" to support that action.

The infringement on localities by this aggressive move by the Department of Elections to decertify WinVote equipment is unprecedented. The fiscal impact on localities will be significant. The Department of Elections is aggressively moving to solve a problem that does not exist in the City of Fairfax or other localities which have repetitive, positive experiences with WinVote equipment.

An undated Interim Report on voting equipment performance, usage & certification conducted under the auspices of the Department of Elections appears more focused on a different agenda (obtaining additional staff for the Department of Elections) than presenting an objective analysis of WinVote equipment.