1. Who is Smartmatic?

Smartmatic is the global leader in election technology and services. It is headquartered in London, with employees in offices worldwide. It is the only provider in the election industry to have supported election management bodies in more than 35 countries, processing over 6.5 billion votes. Smartmatic offers a comprehensive portfolio of advanced products and end-to-end support services to help deliver secure, transparent, and auditable elections.
For further details, please visit our About page.

2. How was Smartmatic founded?

Smartmatic was founded in Florida, U.S., in 2000 with the mission of improving election technology. Prompted by the challenges of the 2000 U.S. presidential election—the infamous “hanging chads”—the company focused on developing secure and auditable voting solutions, launching its first voting machine in 2003.
For further details, please visit our About page.

3. Who owns Smartmatic?

The majority of company shares (83%) are held by the founding families—the Mugica and Piñate families—while the remaining shares, accounting for less than 20%, are owned by employees and external investors.
Contrary to other companies in the industry, Smartmatic’s ownership structure is fully transparent and public (complete list of stakeholders here). This clarity in ownership reflects Smartmatic’s broader commitment to transparency—a cornerstone of trust in elections.

4. Isn’t Smartmatic a Venezuelan company?

Smartmatic is a UK-based company. It was founded in the United States in 2000, and in 2012, the company moved its headquarters to the United Kingdom.
The nationality of the founders has been wrongly used to suggest that the company is Venezuelan. However, a company’s nationality is not determined by the nationality of its founders. For instance, nobody would assume that Google is “Russian” just because one of its founders was born in Russia. Similarly, many American companies like Comcast, Tesla, TJ Maxx, and Procter & Gamble were founded by immigrants.

5. What was Smartmatic's role in the 2020 and 2024 U.S. presidential elections?

Smartmatic technology was used only in Los Angeles County, California. Smartmatic did not provide any hardware, software, or services to any other state—particularly those involved in election controversies such as Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona—nor did we supply any voting technology or services in those or any other states.

6. Did Smartmatic rig the 2020 U.S. election?

No. Smartmatic was created to guarantee the accuracy of results and the integrity of elections. Our software, developed by Smartmatic engineers in our own R&D centers, is designed to do three things: accurately process votes, keep them secure, and facilitate audits. For 20 years, our technology has been proven in audited elections worldwide.
In the United States, Smartmatic technology was used only in Los Angeles County, California, during the 2020 election. The system provided to LA County does not count, tabulate, or store votes.

7. Does Smartmatic own any other election technology providers?

No. Smartmatic does not own any other election technology company anywhere in the world. The company sold its stake in Sequoia Voting Systems in 2006 to the firm’s management. That was the last time Smartmatic owned another technology company.

8. Did Smartmatic create software to rig elections?

No. Smartmatic has never created software to rig elections. Following the issues in the 2000 U.S. presidential election, Smartmatic began research on voting technology and introduced its first voting machine in 2003.
Since then, Smartmatic technology has been used in elections for more than 20 years, recording and counting over 6.5 billion votes worldwide without a single security breach. All allegations questioning the integrity of Smartmatic’s systems or the accuracy of results have been dismissed. No legal challenge disputing election outcomes has ever succeeded against elections conducted with Smartmatic technology.

9. What is Smartmatic's lawsuit against Fox about?

Smartmatic initiated a lawsuit against Fox, Fox on-air hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, and Jeanine Pirro, as well as Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell. The suit seeks $2.7 billion, plus an additional amount for punitive damages, for defamation and disparagement. Fox’s disinformation campaign in the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. presidential election had a direct and harmful impact on Smartmatic’s ability to conduct business in the United States and around the world, both now and in the future. The complaint was filed in New York State Court in Manhattan.
For additional information about the lawsuit, visit Smartmatic Lawsuit Updates & Fact Checks or contact communications@smartmatic.com.

10. Does Smartmatic currently conduct elections in Venezuela?

No. Smartmatic supported the election authority in Venezuela between 2004 and 2017, but since then it has not provided technology or services for Venezuelan elections. Following the National Constituent Assembly elections in 2017, Smartmatic publicly stated that the results announced by the election authority differed from those recorded by its voting system. In March 2018, after supporting 15 elections with secure and auditable voting systems, Smartmatic ceased all business in Venezuela.

11. What products and services does Smartmatic offer?

Smartmatic is a comprehensive election technologies and services company that provides solutions for all phases of an election—from registration to election administration to tabulation. We tailor everything we provide to each client’s needs and specifications.
A full list of products and services is available on our Elections page.

12. Has anybody audited Smartmatic's technology?

Smartmatic’s technology has been validated by independent third-party organizations, such as the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the State of California, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Pro V&V, and SLI Global. Furthermore, renowned institutions like the Carter Center, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union have assessed and validated its technology.

13. How does Smartmatic compare to its competitors?

Since its founding in 2000, Smartmatic has processed more than 6.5 billion votes—more than any other company in the world—without a single security breach. Its global footprint allows the company to invest heavily in research and development, delivering the latest in advanced election technology to its clients. Smartmatic is a privately held company, focused exclusively on modernizing elections and entirely independent of any government or political group.

14. What is George Soro's involvement in Smartmatic?

Zero. George Soros has never had any ownership or involvement in our company. Smartmatic has no ties to political parties or groups in any country, and we abide by a strict code of ethics that forbids the company from donating to any political campaigns of any kind.

15. Is Smartmatic a tool of the Forum of São Paulo?

Smartmatic is apolitical by design. As a privately held company with no ownership links to any government or political group, it operates with complete independence and unwavering neutrality in every election it supports.
The nationality of some of its founders has been used by political actors to try to delegitimize elections they have lost.
Smartmatic has served election clients in Los Angeles, Norway, Estonia, and Belgium that employ stringent certification standards and rigorous selection processes.

Bonus Question: Why is Smartmatic so controversial?
Elections have always been prone to controversy, whether in the United States, France, Kenya, Malawi, or virtually any other democracy in the world. Over 2,500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Thucydides captured this sentiment: “In a democracy, someone who fails to get elected to office can always console himself with the thought that there was something not quite fair about it.”
Today, election experts identify disinformation as the greatest threat to election integrity worldwide. Election technology vendors and election management bodies are not immune to this challenge, often becoming prime targets for misinformation during elections. This disinformation frequently comes not only from candidates and political campaigns aiming to sow distrust but also from competitors. It is crucial for those shaping public opinion to stay vigilant against biased reporting, clickbait articles, and fake news.