It is not something new that when a party loses an election, they go on to make allegations on the voting system itself to show the general public that the election was rigged, and that simply was the case with the Dominion Voting Machines Lawsuit. See, some right-leaning media outlets are claiming that there was something wrong with the Dominion voting machines, and sure enough, this matter grew further and turned into a backlash against both parties. Let’s talk about what went down next, shall we?
What Are Dominion and Smartmatic?
First, we should know what these companies do in reality. Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic are just the companies that create and provide the electronic voting machines that are commonly used in the polling stations during elections.
Dominion is a U.S.-based company, and its main office is in Denver, Colorado. In contrast, Smartmatic is an international company originally from the United Kingdom and has been managing election technology in various countries.
In the wake of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, these two companies found themselves embroiled in a scandal. An initial impulse to sue the election result seemed to have come from a small group of people, mostly Trump supporters, who began asserting that the election was rigged. What was their chief basis? That Dominion and Smartmatic tampered with the ballots to help Joe Biden. Was that true, though? Nobody knows!
The Lawsuit Against Fox News
Without a doubt, Dominion was not passive or awaiting the falsification to go unchallenged. Dominion took Fox to court over defamation and asked for $1.6 billion in damages in 2021. The main point was that Fox was aware of the false narratives it aired about Dominion’s machines causing election fraud, while at the same time, internal communications revealed that their employees did not believe the allegations.
In April 2023, Fox News came to a settlement agreement. The money? A total of $787.5 million. That settlement marked the biggest publicly known defamation settlement over the US media history. Though there was no apology from Fox broadcast-wise, the company did recognize the court’s decision that their statements about Dominion were lies.
Newsmax Settlement With Dominion
Fox News was not the only media outlet that had a hand in this. Another conservative-leaning network, Newsmax, was also sued by Dominion for making similar false allegations. In August 2025, Newsmax put an end to the lawsuit by consenting to give Dominion $67 million. They said so in their public announcement, noting that they thought the trial would not be impartial and they took the route of settlement instead.
Smartmatic’s Legal Moves
Smartmatic didn’t just sit still. A year later, the firm initiated a defamation suit against Fox News to the tune of $2.7 billion, stating that the channel’s consistent airing of lies about their business had led to serious harm to their U.S. business and reputation.
It was not only the Fox that was sued. Smartmatic expanded its lawsuits not only to personalities, including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Mike Lindell, but also to media channels like Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN). At the moment, the lawsuit of Smartmatic against Fox is still there.
In another case, Smartmatic resolved the matter with Newsmax in 2025, paying a sum of $40 million.
Bribery Allegations Against Smartmatic
The year 2024 brought along fresh troubles with the company. Three Smartmatic top executives have been charged by the government of the United States over a $282 million election contract with the Los Angeles County. The law enforcement officials stated that the said persons illegally made money from the contract and bribed the officials in countries like Venezuela and the Philippines with the aim of having more contracts. Moreover, it is said that at least one official was provided with a luxury house with a pool as part of the bribe.
