Investigation casts cloud over Virginia voting machines

Nearly a year after Fairfax County scrapped its touch-screen voting machines, state officials are recommending decertification of the WinVote system used in 20 percent of Virginia’s precincts.

The investigation has raised concerns about the credibility and integrity of upcoming elections throughout the swing state.

With fewer than 60 days to the June primaries, the Virginia Department of Elections is taking public comment on the machines used in 29 localities.

Fairfax County General Registrar Cameron Quinn pulled the plug on the 10-year-old units last summer.

“We knew we couldn’t get through the (2016) presidential election without a change,” said Quinn, chief election officer in the state’s largest county. Neighboring Loudoun County also junked WinVote.

Unlike mechanical voting machines of bygone days, computer-based systems like WinVote can be fussy and fragile. The computers that run WinVote are prone to “calibration” issues, Quinn said.

The state Department of Elections aired the problem in a report that alleged “serious security concerns with WinVote voting equipment, particularly with the wireless capability of the system.”

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