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Smartmatic

Website:

www.smartmatic.com/
Type:

Private company
Formation:

2000
CEO:

Antonio Mugica
Location:

London, England

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Smartmatic is an international voting-technology company based in England that claims to offer services to conduct precinct tabulation, ballot marking, central scanning, and election management. 1 The chairman of Smartmatic as of 2025 was Mark Malloch-Brown, who previously was president of the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations. 2

Smartmatic provided voting technology for the disputed 2004 Venezuelan presidential-recall election, in which socialist Hugo Chavez was declared the victor. Smartmatic was accused of having financial ties to the Chavez regime, which later prompted a U.S. investigation into when Smartmatic purchased a U.S. voting-machine manufacturer. 3

Smartmatic filed a defamation lawsuit against new outlet Fox News following claims by several hosts that the company’s voting machines were vulnerable in the 2020 election and had been funded by LinkedIn founder and Democratic Party donor Reid Hoffman. 4 In 2024, right-of-center news outlet Newsmax, which had also been sued by Smartmatic following allegations it made regarding the 2020 election results, paid Smartmatic $40 million to settle Smartmatic’s defamation claims. 5

History and Background

Smartmatic is an international voting-technology company that claims to provide election-based services such as conducting precinct tabulation, ballot marking, central scanning, and election management. Smartmatic claims to have offices in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Benin, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Oman, Pakistan, Armenia, Georgia, Estonia, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Albania, Italy, Bulgaria, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, and Australia. 1

Smartmatic was founded in Florida in 2000 as an information-technology company in cybersecurity. In 2004 and 2013, Smartmatic’s technology was allegedly used in the Venezuelan presidential elections during those years. In 2005, the company claimed that its voting technology was confirmed as secure and reliable by the Carter Center, founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. 6

Smartmatic’s worldwide headquarters is in London, England. Its American headquarters is in Boca Raton, Florida. 7

Activities

Connections to Venezuela and Seqouia Voting Systems

In 2004, Smartmatic machines were used during a recall election against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Smartmatic worked with a “consortium” of several voter-technology groups to conduct the election including Bizta Corp, of which 28 percent was previously owned by the Venezuelans government in exchange of a loan. Bitza repaid the loan in 2004 but would later be bought by Smartmatic in 2005. Chavez would eventually be declared the victor in the 2004 recall election, but those opposed to the Chavez regime claimed the election was fraudulent. 3

From 2005 to 2006, Smartmatic owned Sequoia Voting Systems, a manufacturer of digital-voting machines used in the United States. Smartmatic purchased Sequoia Voting Systems for $16 million in early 2005. At the end of 2006, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States launched a probe into Sequoia Voting Systems due to its connections to Smartmatic and Smartmatic’s alleged connections to Venezuela. The Committee also investigated whether Smartmatic had paid bribes in Venezuela to win an election contract in 2004 and whether the company had failed to pay taxes owed in the United States. While the U.S. government investigation progressed, Smartmatic decided to sell Sequoia Voting Systems to end the review. 3

Alleged Connections to Reid Hoffman

In 2025, it was reported that Smartmatic had not disclosed a meeting it held with LinkedIn founder and Democratic Party donor Reid Hoffman while it had filed defamation lawsuits against right-of-center news outlets Fox News and Newsmax regarding claims made by hosts on the 2020 election results. Several Fox News hosts alleged that a “deep-pocketed ‘third party’ [was] behind the suit” which Smartmatic denied. However, it was later reported that Hoffman had invested millions into Smartmatic at the same time Smartmatic sued Fox News. The Washington Post further reported that Hoffman had “connected with Smartmatic chief executive Antonio Mugica through friends of friends” and was “boosting” the lawsuit. 8 According to an unsealed court filing, Hoffman had allegedly given $25 million to Smartmatic to fund the lawsuit, which the company failed to disclose. 4

On its website, Smartmatic released a statement on its role in both the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections, claiming, “Smartmatic technology was only used in Los Angeles County, California” during both elections. The company also claimed it had not provided, “…hardware, software, or services to Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, or Arizona during the 2020 and 2024 US elections, nor do we supply any other voting technology servicing those states.” 9

Leadership

As of 2025, the chairman of the board of Smartmatic was Mark Malloch-Brown, who previously worked as president of the George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations (OSF) from 2021 to 2024. 10 Malloch-Brown was reported to have been a “longtime personal friend” of philanthropist George Soros. 2 11

One of the three co-founders of Smartmatic is Antonio Mugica, who as of 2025 was the company’s chief executive officer (CEO). Mugica received a degree in electronics engineering from Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela. Mugica was also a board member of Feeld, the executive chairman of Airscape, the founder of Folio.ID, the chairman of SGO, and a strategic advisor to the Program on Democracy and Technology at the University of Oxford. 2 12

References

  1. “Smartmatic.” Smartmatic. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.smartmatic.com/us/?__cf_chl_f_tk=KXr76LjZddSGKPbHl5mxBMz4SzHAwy9.TLs7Su25s4U-1748879909-1.0.1.1-ktysdR.8rHwm6xv3BcOvqJCfhILV0m76NCXX8IlPeyw.
  2. “Partnerships, Acquisitions, & General Facts.” Smartmatic. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://smartmaticfacts.com/corporate-facts/.
  3. “Smartmatic to Shed U.S. Unit, End Probe Into Venezuelan Links.” Davis, Bob. Wall Street Journal. December 22, 2006. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB116674617078557263
  4. Lyman, Brianna. “Filing: Smartmatic Hid Meeting With Dem Megadonor Who Financed Its Suit Against 2020 Election Reporting.” The Federalist. May 8, 2025. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/08/filing-smartmatic-hid-meeting-with-dem-megadonor-who-financed-its-suit-against-2020-election-reporting/.
  5. Cohen, Marshall. “Newsmax Agreed to Pay $40 Million to Settle Smartmatic’s 2020 Election Defamation Lawsuit | CNN Business.” CNN, March 14, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/14/media/newsmax-smartmatic-settlement.
  6. “Our History.” Smartmatic. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.smartmatic.com/us/about/our-history/.
  7. “Contact.” Smartmatic. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.smartmatic.com/contact/.
  8. Barr, Jeremy. “Reid Hoffman Is Funding Smartmatic’s Defamation Suit against Fox News.” The Washington Post, July 8, 2024. https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/07/08/reid-hoffman-funds-smartmatic-fox-lawsuit/.
  9. “Smartmatic Fact-Check.” Smartmatic. Accessed June 2, 2025. https://www.smartmatic.com/smartmatic-fact-check/
  10. Beasley, Stephanie. “OSF Names New President as Mark Malloch-Brown Steps Down.” Devex, March 11, 2024. https://www.devex.com/news/osf-names-new-president-as-mark-malloch-brown-steps-down-107225
  11. Soros, George. “The Capitalist Threat.” The Atlantic. February 1997. Jun 2, 2025. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/02/the-capitalist-threat/376773/
  12. “Antonio Mugica.” LinkedIn. Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniomugica/details/experience/.
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