Fresno County supervisors expand contract with Dominion Voting. Some residents angered
The majority of Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved an amendment Tuesday expanding its contract with Dominion Voting Systems — to the dismay of some residents.
The voting systems have been controversial going back to the unfounded claims of President Donald Trump that the November election was fraudulently awarded to President Joe Biden.
The supervisors voted 4-1 to increase the three-year maintenance contract of voting machines from Dominion by about $10,700, which now totals $2.9 million. The Fresno County Registrar of Voters Office added two new scanners during the last presidential election and thus asked to increase the contract, according to staffers.
Supervisor Nathan Magsig, who voted to approve the contract, noted the Dominion machines were added in 2019, replacing an old system from 1998. The machines and the company have been certified by the state and a panel of county employees recommended them.
“I try to make choices based on evidence and fact, and we do audit as well using humans. We keep the ballots, paper ballots in place,” Magsig said. “To my knowledge, everything we’ve done has been in accordance with the law.”
Dominion is one of four electronic voting systems used in the state and is used in Fresno County, according to election officials. Detractors have said the systems can be hacked, but have not shown any evidence to prove it. Elections officials say the machines are not even connected to the internet.
Dominion has entered into a number of lawsuits against public figures and agencies who pushed false allegations of rigging the election, suing for defamation, including against former President Donald Trump lawyer Rudy Guiliani and Fox News.
The right-wing media outlet Newsmax issued an apology and retraction in April after amplifying the unfounded narrative against Dominion. A defamation lawsuit against Newsmax was withdrawn the same day.
A number of people who spoke Tuesday against approving the Dominion contract repeated fallacious claims about the November election, even though the idea that the election was stolen from Trump has been widely dismissed.
One Clovis resident argued the Dominion machines lack transparency because he and other detractors are not allowed to examine the machines and do their own audit. The machines are certified by state officials.
Another man said the machines have been used for nefarious reasons in foreign countries like Venezuela, arguing they could be part of a communist agenda in the U.S. That claim, which has been shared online, has been proven untrue.
Supervisor Steve Brandau, who cast the only no vote, said the Dominion claims stirred too much controversy to support.
“I’m not happy with Dominion at all, and I think they’ve been a part of a problem that had drained confidence in our society,” he said. “I know that there would be a cost to re-do that system in the county but I would be willing to incur that cost.”
Officials estimate going away from Dominion to a new system would cost $4 million to $6 million, plus the cost for retraining employees.
The Dominion system in Fresno County, which has been used in five elections, has been 100% accurate when vetted, according to Fresno County Registrar James Kus.
The supervisors in April asked staffers to look into a credit check company to clean up voter rolls in the wake of the presidential election that had many claiming fraud. Some of the more stringent efforts could cost as much as $4 million, staffers said.
