Thank you for making this public forum available for comments on the issues relating to the AVS WinVote voting system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We commend the Commissioner and the Department of Elections (ELECT) for conducting a robust review of technology issues following the 2014 election.  We write to add our comments to those of others including Virginians for Verified Voting (VAVV) who call for the de-certification of the AVS WinVote system. Verified Voting is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard elections in the digital age. We have many associates in the Commonwealth of Virginia and we are the only organization that maintains an extensive resource on voting technology in use in all jurisdictions around the nation.

We agree with the recommendation to de-certify the AVS WinVote voting system and take steps to support those counties saddled with this old and unreliable system so that they can transition more readily into a new era of verifiable, evidence-based voting systems. We believe it is important to make clear that any shortcomings in the technology should not be construed as any kind of a reflection on the local election offices’ operations and capabilities. We have great respect for the hard work all our election officials undertake in supporting our democracy and believe they should be supported with reliable systems rather than left with lingering questions because of systems that cannot be effectively checked for accuracy.

It should be noted that no other jurisdiction outside of the Commonwealth of Virginia is using this system. In the past it was used in several states, but the others have all decertified and discontinued its use. Problems have been reported (including in VA) from as far back as 2003. When concerns were raised about the wireless communications capability of the voting system a number of years ago, a procedural approach was taken to dealing with this major security flaw, requiring the connection to be disabled during elections. However, it is clear from recent evidence that there is no guarantee that a procedural approach for a technology problem can be relied upon. It is instead far better to address this technology problem with a technology solution: de-certify this flawed system and obtain new, verifiable systems that are not undermined by this wireless point of entry.

Of greater concern than the wireless capability is the inability to conduct an effective recount or post-election audit on the AVS WinVote system. It, and other direct recording electronic voting machines like it, do not provide voters with the physical ballot they can check to ensure their votes were captured as they intended. Nationally jurisdictions that are discarding their old voting machines are replacing them with voter-verifiable paper ballot systems that are counted by digital scanners. These have many advantages, including prevention of long lines on election day, cost-effectiveness, and most importantly, the ability to conduct legitimate recounts or audits to ensure accurate vote counts and correct election outcomes.

Thank you again for this opportunity to weigh in on this matter. What happens in elections in the Commonwealth of Virginia matters to the whole nation.