February 25, 2023

Ridgecrest, California

Dear Kern County County Board of Supervisors,

Why would you bother to vote if you didn’t trust the election systems? Untrustworthy election systems breed apathy and in effect they act to suppress the vote on both sides of the political aisle.

An integral part of election systems throughout the country has been tainted by issues with a tech company called Dominion. In this world, the name alone should be of concern to you. It should come as no surprise to you that Dominion Voting Systems and software have come under increasing scrutiny in the wake of 2022 midterm elections.

On Tuesday, February 28^th, the Kern County Board of Supervisors must decide to cancel Dominion’s contract with the Kern County Elections Department. Shasta County in California has already done so while Maricopa County in Arizona is paying the price of a corrupted election system due to the “machines” and the battle is now at the Arizona Supreme Court.

Texas rejected the Dominion Voting Systems outright in 2020:

Texas has three times rejected use of ballot counting software from the company Dominion Voting Systems (DVS), according to a report from the Secretary of State’s (SOS) office dated January of this year.

The report of review for the latest software, “Democracy Suite 5.5-A,” by Deputy Secretary of State Jose Esparza states,

“Specifically, the examiner reports raise concerns about whether the Democracy Suite 5.5-A system is suitable for its intended purpose; operates efficiently and accurately; and is safe from fraudulent or unauthorized manipulation.”

TheTexan.news

As you are aware, the Kern County Elections Department was unable to process a large percentage of the votes in the 2022 midterm elections due to a “broken machine” among other issues. Ten days after the election only 71% of the votes in Kern County had been counted.

In addition, the Elections Department published results as “Final Unofficial Results” on the County’s web page on the day after the election while over 75% of the votes hadn’t been processed, leading The Daily Independent in Ridgecrest to declare winners and losers while giving voters the impression that all was well with Kern County’s vote counting and processing system. Sadly, that was not the case with the Kern County Election Department.

It took weeks to count the votes and Kern County’s voters have lost trust in California’s mail-in voting systems. Kern County has one of the lowest voter participation rates in the State and a survey by KGET confirms that a substantial majority of respondents to the survey said ‘no’, we do not trust the voting machines.

A large majority of respondents said the county should not renew its contract with Dominion Voting Systems. Eighty percent of 849 respondents said no.

KGET Survey

Lack of trust should be a big factor in your decision. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat or Republican in making your decision. Kern County voters don’t trust the system and Dominion has become an inherent reason why experts say our elections are far from free, fair, open or honest. “Black-box” computer voting systems will continue to be part of the problem and a major reason why voters don’t trust our election systems.

California’s mail-in voting and registration system, together with Kern County’s failure to count votes in a timely manner, has resulted in what the Kern County Election Department refers to as “election season” instead of “election day”.

Quite clearly, Dominion Voting Systems are at the center of the election integrity issues that are currently being litigated throughout the country. The machines aren’t trusted and County election officials can’t pass off their incompetence to a so-called “broken machine”.

I strongly urge you to cancel the contract with Dominion Voting Systems. Supporting information is linked below.

Sincerely,

Mike Sinnott, Kern County Resident

Call or email the Kern County Board of Supervisors to make your opinion known in advance of Tuesday’s Board Meeting:

Agenda Items are below, and the full agenda is here.

15)         Presentation on Kern County Elections Division operations (Fiscal Impact: None) – HEAR PRESENTATION

16)         Proposed retroactive Amendment No. 4 to Agreement 101-2016 with Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. to extend the term of Agreement three years from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2025 for a total cost of $672,948 (Fiscal Impact: $672,948 [FY 2022-2023 $224,316]; Budgeted; Discretionary)

See also: KGET conducts a survey:

https://www.kget.com/news/local-news/feedback-should-kern-county-renew-its-contract-with-dominion-voting-systems/