I am writing to express my strong displeasure with the Department of Elections proposal to decertify Winvote voting equipment.  The reports prepared by the Department of Elections and Pro V&V includes no factual evidence of vulnerabilities and is based on pure conjecture.

Decertification would set the precedent for similar ill-considered actions to happen anywhere, anytime, for any reason.  There is nothing keeping the Department of Elections from creating another subjective report a year from now to arbitrarily decertify another type of voting equipment - a fiscal burden that Virginia counties and cities cannot afford.

The use of subjective language in the interim report and Pro V&V report is an attempt to undermine the electorate’s faith in the electoral process and institute a costly and unnecessary unfunded mandate.  During the 2015 legislative session, the General Assembly Senate Finance Committee unanimously voted (14-0) against SB827 which would have banned the use of all types of DREs after July 1, 2016. Legislators are elected by Commonwealth voters and speak on behalf of the individuals who voted them into office.  The Department of Elections should not have the power to override the will of the people.

I implore the Virginia State Board of Elections  not to approve decertification of the WINVOTE system.  If a wireless vulnerability can be substantiated with actual evidence (which has yet to be provided to the elections community and the general public), a good compromise would be to simply prohibit localities from enabling the wireless capability on the device.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy E. Tingen, City of Fairfax Deputy Registrar