Who is Antonio Mugica?
Antonio Mugica is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Smartmatic. He established the company in 2000 in Boca Raton, Florida, with the goal of developing technology that could improve how societies function. Mugica divides his time among London, where Smartmatic’s global headquarters is located; Boca Raton, home to its U.S. headquarters; and Panama, where its global service team is based.
Under his leadership, Smartmatic grew from a Florida startup initially focused on banking technology into a global election technology company that has supported elections in nearly 40 countries and processed more than 6.5 billion votes.
He holds 18 patents related to technological breakthroughs in secure, auditable election systems: 16 granted in the United States, one in Mexico, and one in the Philippines.
Mugica also serves as a Strategic Advisor to Oxford University’s Programme on Democracy and Technology, which studies the role of algorithms, automation, and computational propaganda in public life.
He has spoken on democracy, technology, and elections at forums including the Athens Democracy Forum, hosted by the International New York Times and the United Nations Democracy Fund, the Atlantic Council, and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
His personal interests include composing music, writing, and collecting contemporary art. His children's book, “Hookitty-Tookitty-Tah,” received the Moonbeam Children’s Book Gold Medal in the Spanish Language category.
Who is Mark Malloch-Brown and what was his role at Smartmatic?
Mark Malloch-Brown is a British statesman and former senior United Nations official. He served as Chairman of SGO Corporation Limited, Smartmatic’s parent company, from 2014 to December 2020.
Before joining SGO, Malloch-Brown served as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and as a minister in the UK government under Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Malloch-Brown also serves on the board of the Open Society Foundations, a philanthropic organization founded by George Soros. This overlap has been repeatedly cited in disinformation narratives to falsely imply a link between Soros and Smartmatic. No such ownership or operational connection exists.
Did Mark Malloch-Brown help Hugo Chávez win the 2004 referendum?
No. Malloch-Brown joined the Smartmatic group in November 2014, more than a decade after the 2004 Venezuelan referendum and more than a year after Hugo Chávez’s death in March 2013. He had no involvement with Smartmatic or its operations during the Chávez era. Any claim connecting him to the 2004 referendum is factually impossible.
What is George Soros’s involvement in Smartmatic?
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.
Who is Peter Neffenger and what is his role at Smartmatic?
Peter Neffenger is a retired Vice Admiral of the United States Coast Guard who received the Department of Homeland Security’s Distinguished Service Medal twice. He served as the 29th Vice Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and later as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and Administrator of the Transportation Security Administration from July 2015 to January 2017.
In October 2018, Admiral Neffenger joined Smartmatic’s newly formed U.S. Board of Directors as its founding Chairman, bringing deep experience in homeland security and critical infrastructure to the company. He served on the board until February 2025.
In November 2020, Admiral Neffenger became a target of election conspiracy theories after his name was put forward to serve as a volunteer member of President-elect Biden’s DHS transition review team. This coincidence was seized upon by conspiracists who claimed there was a coordinated scheme to influence the 2020 election. This is false. There was no effort to influence the 2020 election by either Admiral Neffenger or Smartmatic.
His position at Smartmatic USA was limited to his role as a board member.
Every major fact-checking organization that examined these conspiracy theories dismissed them.
Is Smartmatic connected to the Forum of São Paulo in Brazil?
No. 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, all jurisdictions that employ stringent certification standards and rigorous selection processes, among many others.
Em português
A Smartmatic tem alguma ligação com o Foro de São Paulo no Brasil?
Não. A Smartmatic é uma empresa apartidária por princípio. Como empresa de capital fechado, sem vínculos societários com qualquer governo ou grupo político, atua com total independência e mantém uma postura de rigorosa neutralidade em todas as eleições das quais participa.
A nacionalidade de alguns de seus fundadores tem sido utilizada por atores políticos na tentativa de deslegitimar eleições nas quais foram derrotados.
A Smartmatic já prestou serviços eleitorais em Los Angeles, Noruega, Estônia e Bélgica, entre muitas outras jurisdições que adotam rigorosos padrões de certificação e processos criteriosos de seleção.