The Most Asked Questions About Smartmatic
People search for Smartmatic every day, on Google, on social media, and increasingly through AI tools. These are the questions they ask most often. We answer each one with verified facts.
Who is Smartmatic?
Smartmatic is a leading global provider of election technology and services, headquartered in London, with employees and offices around the world. It has the most extensive client portfolio in the election technology industry, having supported election management bodies in nearly 40 countries and processed more than 6.5 billion votes.
For further details, please visit our About page.
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, specifically the infamous “hanging chads” controversy, the company focused on developing secure and auditable voting solutions. It launched its first voting machine in 2003.
For further details, please visit our About page.
Who owns Smartmatic?
The majority of company shares, 83%, are held by the founding families: the Mugica and Piñate families. The remaining approximately 17% are owned by employees and external investors.
Unlike many companies in the industry, Smartmatic’s ownership structure is fully transparent and public, with a complete list of stakeholders available here. This clarity in ownership reflects Smartmatic’s broader commitment to transparency, a cornerstone of trust in elections.
Is Smartmatic a Venezuelan company?
No. 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 Smartmatic’s 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. Nobody would assume that Google is Russian just because one of its founders was born in Russia. Similarly, many American companies, including Comcast, Tesla, TJ Maxx, and Procter & Gamble, were founded or co-founded by immigrants.
What was Smartmatic's role in the 2020 and 2024 U.S. presidential elections?
Smartmatic’s involvement in the 2020 and 2024 U.S. elections was limited to work performed for Los Angeles County, California. Smartmatic did not administer the elections and did not provide hardware, software or services to any other U.S. jurisdiction, including Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania or Arizona, states frequently referenced in election-related claims.
Did Smartmatic rig the 2020 U.S. election?
No. Smartmatic did not rig the 2020 U.S. election. Smartmatic was created to guarantee the accuracy of results and the integrity of elections. Its software, developed by Smartmatic engineers in the company’s own R&D centers, is designed to do three things: accurately process votes, keep them secure, and facilitate audits. For more than two decades, its 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.
Were Venezuelan-made machines used in American elections?
No. There are no Venezuelan-made Smartmatic machines. Smartmatic has never manufactured election devices in Venezuela. The company works with hardware manufacturers in Taiwan and other countries, in accordance with the laws and requirements of each jurisdiction where it operates.
Does Smartmatic own Dominion or any other election technology providers?
No. Smartmatic does not own any other election technology company operating in the United States. The company sold its stake in Sequoia Voting Systems in 2007 to the firm’s management. Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems are separate, competing companies with no ownership ties or operational relationship. The two companies have often been conflated in disinformation narratives about the 2020 U.S. election, but they are entirely independent of one another.
Did Smartmatic create software to rig elections?
No. Quite the opposite: Smartmatic builds software to protect elections. The company was founded in direct response to the 2000 U.S. presidential election and the hanging chads crisis, which exposed the urgent need to improve election technology. Smartmatic set out to develop voting systems that were secure, transparent, and fully auditable. It introduced its first voting machine in 2003.
Since then, Smartmatic technology has been used in elections for more than 20 years, recording and counting more than 6.5 billion votes worldwide without a single security breach. All allegations questioning the integrity of elections or the accuracy of results produced using Smartmatic technology have been dismissed, and no legal challenge to an election outcome involving Smartmatic technology has ever succeeded.
What is Smartmatic’s lawsuit against Fox about?
Smartmatic filed a lawsuit against Fox News Network LLC, Fox Corporation, and 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 in general and special damages, 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 reputation and ability to conduct business in the United States and around the world. The harm Fox caused Smartmatic is ongoing. 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.
Does Smartmatic currently provide election technology or services in Venezuela?
No. Smartmatic has not provided election technology or services in Venezuela since 2017. Following the July 2017 Constituent Assembly election, Smartmatic publicly disclosed that official turnout figures did not match the data in its system and ceased operations in the country shortly after. The Venezuelan Government and the CNE subsequently seized Smartmatic’s assets, which are now the subject of an ongoing international investor-state arbitration.
What products and services does Smartmatic offer?
Smartmatic is a comprehensive election technology and services company that provides solutions for every phase of an election, from registration and election administration to tabulation. The company tailors its products and services to each client’s needs and specifications.
A full list of products and services is available on our Elections page.
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. Renowned institutions, including the Carter Center, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and the European Union, have also assessed and validated its technology. In every jurisdiction where Smartmatic operates, the relevant electoral commission conducts its own audit of the solution and the results, providing an additional layer of independent verification.
How does Smartmatic compare with other election technology companies?
Since its founding in 2000, Smartmatic has supported elections in nearly 40 countries and processed more than 6.5 billion votes, more than any other election technology company worldwide. Across those deployments, its technology has not experienced a security breach.
Smartmatic’s global scale enables sustained investment in research and development and the delivery of advanced, secure, and auditable election technology. The company is privately held, focused exclusively on modernizing elections, and independent of any government, political party, or political group.
Together, Smartmatic’s global experience, specialized focus, security record, and political independence distinguish it from other election technology providers.
What is George Soros's involvement in the company?
None. 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 political campaigns of any kind.
Why is Smartmatic so controversial?
Elections have always been prone to controversy. More than 2,500 years ago, Thucydides captured it well: "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." According to the International IDEA Global State of Democracy Report, nearly one in five elections held between 2020 and 2024 saw a losing candidate or party publicly reject the results. That is not an anomaly. It is a pattern.
Election technology vendors and election management bodies are frequent targets of this disinformation, whether from losing candidates, political campaigns, or competitors. Smartmatic is no exception.