Dominion tells Puerto Rico election commission it found export-file coding error after June 2 failures; verification pending

SAN JUAN — Dominion Boric System representatives told Puerto Rico’s Comisión de Derecho Constitucional Puertorriqueño y de Asuntos Electoral on June 19 that a "minor" coding error in an export file, not a transmission failure, produced incomplete results in the export of June 2 primary data, and that Dominion has made a code change and conducted internal tests indicating the problem is addressed.

"El archivo de exportación que le enviamos al sistema RAID de la comisión estatal ... contenía resultados incompletos," Robert Giles said, explaining that the export file generated by Dominion produced incomplete results. Giles said Dominion "ha identificado el problema y hemos hecho un cambio al código" and that internal testing has shown the fix works, although final verification requires joint testing with the Comisión Estatal de Elecciones (CE) and completion of the CE’s escrutinio.

Why it matters: Commissioners said the export anomalies produced public confusion after the primaries and stressed that the reliability of result transmission is central to public trust even if paper ballots and manual counts can ultimately verify tallies. Commissioners pressed Dominion and its legal representative to provide records that would allow independent review of the contract, maintenance history and any documentation tied to the export process.

What Dominion told the commission: Giles said Dominion began conversations with its vice president of operations and engineering after the CE notified the company about issues on June 2. He told the commission Dominion issued a written "notificación de asesoría al cliente" on June 11 describing initial findings. Dominion said the particular functionality that generated the export file for Puerto Rico is not part of the federally certified module tested by EAC-authorized labs and that Dominion did not have direct access to Puerto Rico’s RAID system, limiting end-to-end laboratory testing for that export path.

Commission demands and records requests: Members of the commission demanded Dominion produce the signed contract and appendices and asked for maintenance logs and payment records. The chair and members requested the contract materials be provided within five days and said the commission may subpoena additional Dominion staff if needed. Antonio Arias Larcada, Dominion’s legal representative, said the company had produced the contract and would coordinate to produce appendices A–N expeditiously.

Testing, certification and timeline: Dominion representatives said they plan to run regression tests, arrange lab scheduling and work with the CE to integrate export-file testing into the certification process. Giles said Dominion wanted to carry out regression testing and a code-review process and was "dispuesto" to test with the CE and in a laboratory, but that timing depends on the lab's itinerary and on the CE's completion of the escrutinio. Commissioners noted the proximity of the Nov. 5 general election (about four and a half months away) and pressed for an accelerated schedule.

Other concerns raised: Commissioners cited media and jurisdictional reports (including a Williamson County, Tennessee report) about tabulator discrepancies in other areas, and asked whether similar problems elsewhere meant broader systemic risk. Giles said Puerto Rico’s export-file issue is distinct in part because the island’s RAID export path is unique and not used in those other jurisdictions, and he described the company as financially stable with recent contract renewals.

Next steps: Dominion committed to provide requested documents, maintenance logs and a final report to the CE and the commission. The commission indicated it may call additional Dominion executives to testify about contract details and implementation. No formal votes or policy actions were taken at the hearing.

Direct quotes and attributions in this article are taken from the hearing transcript and are attributed to speakers listed by name in the commission record.