Back in 2020, allegations of voter fraud were being flung around even before the presidential election was over. Companies that make voting machines faced the brunt of the unsubstantiated claims, sparking more than a dozen lawsuits.
Many of those lawsuits won’t be resolved before this November’s presidential election (which, of course, has already gathered its own allegations of voter fraud). In fact, as of July 8, there are at least eight pending lawsuits filed against companies or individuals who accused Dominion Voting Systems or Smartmatic of interfering in the election.
Smartmatic strikes back
Smartmatic became a popular target for allies of former president Donald Trump, right-wing media networks, and influencers during the 2020 election, despite the fact that its voting systems were used only in Los Angeles County. As a result, the London-based company, which has an office in Florida, filed a slew of lawsuits in 2021 alleging it was defamed by several groups or individuals.
Smartmatic in April reached a settlement with Herring Networks, the parent company of the OAN media network. Details of the settlement were not disclosed in court filings.
Lawyers for Smartmatic in February alleged in court filings that it had evidence OAN executives broke the law after the election by stealing passwords belonging to Smartmatic employees’ email accounts and providing them to Sidney Powell just days after January 6, 2021. Powell, a former lawyer for the Trump campaign, has pled guilty to racketeering charges in Georgia. She is also the subject of a lawsuit filed by Smartmatic in federal court over false statements regarding its role in the 2020 election.
Smartmatic also sued Fox Corp, several Fox News anchors, and former New York City mayor and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and Powell in Feb. 2021. Giuliani was disbarred in New York earlier this month for his role in spreading misinformation over the 2020 election and filed for bankruptcy last year.
In June, Smartmatic subpoenaed four Fox Corp. board members after a New York Superior Court judge ordered Fox to turn over relevant documents from those individuals. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman told The Washington Post Monday that he has made a multimillion-dollar investment in Smartmatic to help it pay its legal fees. A trial date has not been set for the lawsuit.
The company also filed a lawsuit against Newsmax in Delaware Superior Court, alleging that the media network broadcast blatant falsehoods about Smartmatic’s role in the 2020 election. Newsmax last month filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming it is “meritless” and goes against Constitutional protections on freedom of the press. A trial is scheduled for the fall.
Dominion, MyPillow, and the “Mad King”
The other major company accusing right-wing groups and personalities of defamation is Denver-based Dominion. The company’s election software was used in 28 states — including several swing states like Arizona and Pennsylvania — in 2020, making it a major target for conspiracies.
Dominion has filed suits against many of the same groups and individuals as Smartmatic, including Powell and Giuliani. (The lawsuit against Giuliani is paused due to his filing for bankruptcy). The company also has open lawsuits against OAN — which recently motioned to stay the case — and Newsmax. A trial in the Newsmax case is set for the second quarter of 2025.
Dominion is also suing ex-Overstock CEO and “Mad King” Patrick Byrne over his promotion of conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump. Byrne has hired pro-Trump lawyer Stefanie Lambert, who was charged with tampering with and undue possession of voting machines in Michigan last August.
Meanwhile, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is facing his own lawsuits from both Dominion and Smartmatic over his wide-ranging claims about the 2020 election. Lindel’s Minnesota-based firm has run into a series of financial issues since his false claims about the election drew backlash.
Dominon in July 2023 reached a $787 million settlement with Fox to avert a trial in the company’s lawsuit against the media network. At the time, Fox said, “We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues.”
The election ahead
But it doesn’t appear that the country has moved on at all.
Republican lawmakers have continued spreading fears about potential election fraud in the 2024 presidential election, which is set to be a second contest between President Joe Biden and Trump. Several of Trump’s prospective picks for vice president, including Senator Tim Scott, have been reluctant to commit to accepting the results of the next election.
In recent months House Republicans have focused on the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would require “documentary proof” of citizenship to vote in a federal election. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has been promoting the bill on social media, gathering support from users like X owner Elon Musk, who called anyone that opposes the bill “All Caps: TRAITORS.” Republicans across the country, such as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, have openly claimed that “Biden and the Democrats want illegal immigrants to vote” in November.
However, there’s no evidence that non-citizens voting in federal elections is common. Both the left-wing Brennan Center for Justice and the libertarian Cato Institute have debunked such claims. Several states, including Georgia and North Carolina, have found no impact from non-citizens voting in recent elections.