When Smartmatic started in April 2000, it offered its services to banks. The shift to electoral security came after Antonio Mugica, a founder and CEO of the company, was in Palm Beach County during the controversial 2000 election. “We were in the front row watching that circus,” he said. “And it really impacted all of us.”
The company was successful in offering electronic voting machines, online voting platforms and software products to elections around the world. It was also used in the 2016 Republican presidential caucus in Utah. In 2018, Los Angeles County chose Smartmatic to implement a new electoral system, and its technology was used there in the presidential primary in March and again in the general election.
After election day, the company’s name, along with Dominion’s, became an integral part of the conspiracies of fraud promoted by right-wing media. Smartmatic employees and their families were threatened, including death threats, some of which were mentioned in the complaint.
“I had one where I was told they would actually come and kidnap me in London, where I was at the time,” said Mr Mugica. They sent three people. “The plane will land tomorrow.” “
Another threat, he said, was aimed at the teenage son of the company’s co-founder, Roger Piñate. “They were able to find his cell phone number, which is spooky enough,” Mugica said. “And to call and threaten him on the phone.”
Smartmatic’s complaint includes arguing that promoting debunked theories about the elections undermined democracy.
“You are not just looking at the effect of the behavior on the plaintiff, but you are looking at the broader effect that reporting can have, and that is the wider effect of it,” said J. Erik Connolly, a lawyer representing Smartmatic. “If you award punitive damages, which is largely meant to say, ‘Don’t do this again’, that’s a broader message. That is relevant to a broader message that a court or jury should send here. “
Edmund Lee contributed to the reporting. Kitty Bennett contributed research.