Voting Machine Manufacturer Smartmatic Demands Retractions Over Election Claims

Voting machine manufacturer Smartmatics announced Monday that it is sending retraction demand letters to Fox News, One America News Network, and Newsmax for stories allegedly accusing Smartmatic of playing a role in a conspiracy to undermine the 2020 presidential election.

Smartmatic called the reports “false and defamatory” and, according to Reuters, now claims that the stories — and subsequent statements by the president and others — have had a financial impact “with officials in other countries either reluctant to sign deals or warning that they were reassessing their contracts.”

“Smartmatic announced today that it is issuing legal notices and retraction demand letters to Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News Network for publishing false and defamatory statements,” the company announced on its website. “The demand letters identify dozens of factually inaccurate statements made by each of the organizations as part of a ‘disinformation campaign’ to injure Smartmatic and discredit the 2020 U.S. election.”

“According to Smartmatic’s demand letters, these organizations could have easily discovered the falsity of the statements and implications made about Smartmatic by investigating their statements before publishing them to millions of viewers and readers. Smartmatic had nothing to do with the ‘controversies’ that certain public and private figures have alleged regarding the 2020 U.S. election,” the company’s statement continued.

The company also released a “fact check” on claims allegedly made about its origins, founders, investors, and relationship with Dominion, another voting machine manufacturer also regularly cited by news reports on the 2020 presidential election and by the President and his legal team.

“There are no ties between Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic,” the company said plainly. The company added that it has no ties to any Venezuelan government — past or present — and that George Soros is not, in fact, an investor in the company.

Smartmatic’s CEO, Antonio Mugica suggested Monday that he believes attacks on voting machine manufacturers are part of “an effort to depress confidence in future elections and potentially counter the will of the voters,” according to Axios.

“They have no evidence to support their attacks on Smartmatic because there is no evidence. This campaign was designed to defame Smartmatic and undermine legitimately conducted elections,” Mugica added. “Our efforts are more than just about Smartmatic or any other company.  This campaign is an attack on election systems and election workers in an effort to depress confidence in future elections and potentially counter the will of the voters, not just here, but in democracies around the world.”

President Donald Trump and his legal team have challenged the results of the November presidential elections in several states, alleging egregious errors in tabulating votes and, in some cases, problems with machine balloting. Although it is possible that some voting machines had errors, the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity division said, shortly after the election itself, that it could find no evidence of any widespread effort to undermine the voting process.

Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied the president’s final appeal in that state. The Electoral College will also vote Monday, with state electors casting ballots in their respective state capitals, and Joe Biden is expected to be official declared as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.