[44] This delay in results reporting was caused by an off-the-shelf software application unrelated to Dominion. Could Dominion's litigation reshape the . In a $1.6 billion defamation suit, Dominion Voting Systems argues that Fox Corp. bosses Rupert Murdoch (left) and Lachlan Murdoch (right) were deeply involved in shaping editorial decisions at Fox . The statement also says there are no ownership ties to the governments of China, Cuba or Venezuela. Should we care? [7][9] On November 12, 2020, CISA released a statement that confirmed "there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised." [117] Accounts hold that the younger Murdoch did not pressure anyone to reverse the call, but "he did ask detailed questions about the process that Fox's election analysts had used after the call became so contentious. It is headquartered in Denver, CO., with an office in Toronto, Canada. Get these in your inbox: We're fact checking the news and sending it to your inbox. Dominion Voting Systems Corporation was founded in 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, by John Poulos and James Hoover. Ms. Powell had no reason to evade service as she looks forward to defending herself in court. Dominion provided the court with reports from various news outlets that Rupert Murdoch had "spoke with Trump and other senior Republicans shortly after the election and urged them to drop their election-fraud narrative and concede defeat". More information: www.dominionvoting.com. "[69] Among those named in the lawsuit were the Trump campaign, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, and Colorado businessman and activist Joseph Oltmann. Signature verification on mail-in ballots in Arizona, including Maricopa County, is required under state law and per the state's election procedures manual. Fox argues this should result in the jury being instructed that they "must presume the messages contained information unfavorable to Plaintiffsand information undermining Plaintiffs' damages calculation," or that the case be dismissed and Dominion fined for spoliation. [51] Edison Research said that they did not write such a report, and that they had "no evidence of any voter fraud". (Reuters) -Fox News repeatedly broadcast lies about vote-rigging claims that it knew were "total bs," Dominion Voting Systems said in a filing made public on Thursday, as part of the election . Two additional days of functional testing on . The Company offers voting systems and scanning devices, as well as resource planning, training management, quality control, and overall change control process services. Apparently speaking about the ICE machine, one source responded that this was incorrect, and that Dominion voting machines are only a "ballot marking device" system in which the voter deposits their printed ballot into a box for counting. Fox News host Howard Kurtz, who anchors a weekly show on the media industry, said he has been told not to cover the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion was started by him," he adds. She went on to say that the continuing lies have resulted in continued threats of violence against the company. Scytl, which provides election night reporting and other online election . Dominion Voting is a top provider of election tabulation solutions to government customers. Stifel, Nicolaus & Company and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP advised Dominion Voting. Namely, the link between Dominion and China was not as straightforward as Wood first claimed. Lindell had recently bragged publicly of disregarding an FBI request to not disclose the seizure of his phone in an unrelated criminal case involving Tina Peters, a Republican Mesa County clerk who was charged in engaging in a data breach of Dominion Voting System machines. [66] In one of their lawsuits, Dominion explained they had spent $565,000 on security as a result. ", Staple Street Capital co-founder and Managing Director Hootan Yaghoobzadeh said, "John Poulos and his team have done an excellent job of building Dominion Voting into one of the most trusted providers of voting solutions in North America. "[96], In response to pressure from advocacy groups opposing false claims of electoral fraud, and despite an angry response from U.S. Dominion claims in a $1.6-billion . [76], On May 13, 2022, Colorado State District Judge Marie Avery Moses rejected motions to dismiss the case made by the Trump campaign, Powell, Giuliani, and other defendants. [7][8][9] There was no evidence supporting these claims, which have been debunked by various groups including election technology experts, government and voting industry officials, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). That . The letter to Carone asserted that, despite Carone presenting herself as a Dominion insider, she was "hired through a staffing agency for one day to clean glass on machines and complete other menial tasks." [46][47], Dominion's architecture was also widely used in the 2018 Ontario municipal elections on October 22, 2018, particularly for online voting. In his deposition, Murdoch said that the hosts Maria Bartiromo, Lou Dobbs, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro endorsed the false narrative promoted by Trump. [95] The lawsuit against OANN also named its anchors Chanel Rion and Christina Bobb. Additionally, no foreign national or foreign government has a stake in the company. Her attorney Howard Kleinhendler denied she had tried to evade service, noting that she travels a lot and "has had to take extra precautions concerning her security, which may have made serving her more difficult. I made f-ing sure of that. [15] Ron Watkins, a leading proponent of the QAnon conspiracy theory,[62][63] posted videos on Twitter in early December of a Dominion employee using one of the machines, falsely stating that the employee was pictured tampering with election results. October 23, 2022 / 6:56 PM / CBS News. CLAIM: Dominion Voting Systems, one of the most widely used election technology firms in the United States, is owned by the company Smartmatic through an intermediary company called Indra. [97], On April 20, 2022, Judge Nichols ruled that Dominion's defamation lawsuit against Byrne could move forward denying his motion to dismiss the case. [68], For similar legal actions see Smartmatic defamation lawsuits, On December 22, 2020, lawyers representing Eric Coomer, Dominion's director of product strategy and security (who had been forced to go into hiding due to death threats), filed a defamation lawsuit on his behalf in the state of Colorado. In a deposition, Hannity said: That whole narrative that Sidney was pushing, I did not believe it for one second. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. A Monday filing in Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion lawsuit . The video also makes another false claimabout Arizona's election integrity, saying that election officials"did not signature verify 1.9 million Maricopa County ballots.". [29] Hoover, Vice President, has an MSc in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta.[30]. Lastly, the man in the video claims that the Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, is dead. He says it won't be close. Byrne. Causes of rejection include a blank ballot, an overvoted ballot, and unclear marks. [82] One of Dominion's attorneys explained they had filed the lawsuit against Powell first "because she's been the most prolific and in many ways has been the originator of these false statements". Last week, political blogs started reporting about concerns that billionaire George Soros owned a company that manufactures voting machines used in 16 states, including . In a conversation about the networks coverage of the issue on 5 January 2020 a day before rioters stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to stop the election from being certified - Suzanne Scott, the Fox News media chief executive, and Murdoch debated whether Fox hosts should acknowledge Trumps defeat and admit that Biden won. In addition to scanning and tabulating marked paper ballots, the ImageCast Evolution is also a ballot-marking device for voters with disabilities. [41] New Brunswick used Dominion's 763tabulator machines in the 2014 provincial elections. [117], In mid-August 2022, documents from the Dauphin County prothonotary's office revealed that Dominion plans to subpoena the Pennsylvania Department of State for records related to its case against Fox News. The statement was signed by various government and voting industry officials including the presidents of the National Association of State Election Directors and the National Association of Secretaries of State. In that case Fox settled the case before Hannity could be deposed. LANSING The CEO of Dominion Voting Systems told Michigan lawmakers Tuesday his company has been targeted in "a dangerous and reckless disinformation campaign," and rebutted allegations . "I tuned in thinking this was going to be a joke my laughter turned from laughter tostraight anger and disgust with our state. Dominions defamation case is being described as a landmark. Still, the network continued to give coverage to proponents of the election fraud narrative as it feared upsetting its viewers. Dominion further stated its intentions were to stop Lindell from using MyPillow to profit off of election conspiracy theories at the expense of Dominion. Lindell told The New York Times, "I would really welcome them to sue me because I have all the evidence against them". "[117] While Fox continues to claim that any statements made on air were covered by the First Amendment, and as such can not be considered defamation, the Times reported that "Fox has also been searching for evidence that could, in effect, prove the Dominion conspiracy theories weren't really conspiracy theories. The Fox News data authority says the numbers are ironclad. [61], The disinformation campaign against Dominion led to their employees being stalked, harassed, and receiving death threats. [7][8][9] These conspiracy theories were further discredited by hand recounts of the ballots cast in the 2020 presidential elections in Georgia and Wisconsin; the hand recounts in these states found that Dominion voting machines had accurately tabulated votes, that any error in the initial tabulation was instead caused by human error, and that Biden had defeated Trump in both battleground states.[10]. Dominion Voting Systems was paid $118.3 million to provide election services during the past three years, according to public records. Cision Distribution 888-776-0942 [1] This equipment includes the DVS ImageCast Evolution (ICE), ImageCast X (ICX), and ImageCast Central (ICC). Sharpies invalidating conservative voter's ballots, Fact check: Viral photo shows fake logo and slogan for Dominion Voting Systems, Fact check: False claim that electronic voting software companies Dominion and Smartmatic have closed, AP News, Dec. 1, 2020, Family of Hugo Chavez does not own Dominion Voting Systems, Politifact, Dec. 3, 2020,No, Hugo Chavezs family does not own Dominion Voting Systems, SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: FACTS & RUMORS, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. But I didnt, he said. Kern is a Republican member of the Arizona state House of Representatives. The company's offerings include vote tabulators, direct-recording electronic (DRE) machines, voter registration and election management systems, ballot-marking devices, electronic poll books, Ballot on Demand printing services, and absentee voting-by-mail . Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News highlights former House Speaker Paul Ryan's alleged influence over Fox News Channel's (FNC) editorial control, reportedly urging the network to move away from former President Donald Trump. [49], Following the 2020 United States presidential election, Donald Trump, his attorneys, and other right-wing personalities amplified the unfounded rumors originated by the proponents of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems had been compromised, supposedly resulting in millions of votes intended for Trump either being deleted or going to rival Joe Biden. 'Crazy Stuff. Dominion sued Fox News and parent company Fox Corporation in March 2021 and November 2021 in Delaware superior court, alleging the cable TV network amplified false claims that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the 2020 election against Trump, a Republican who lost to Democratic rival Biden. [31], ImageCast X is described as an accessible ballot-marking device that allows a voter to use various methods to input their choices. Herring Networks, the OAN parent, will plead constitutional free-speech protections to stave off a $1.6 billion lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems . [115] According to Kushner, he spoke to Rupert Murdoch on election night 2020 after Fox News reported that the electoral votes for Arizona had been won by Joe Biden. [108][109] In response to the development, a spokesperson for Fox News stated: "We are confident we will prevail as freedom of the press is foundational to our democracy and must be protected, in addition to the damages claims being outrageous, unsupported and not rooted in sound financial analysis, serving as nothing more than a flagrant attempt to deter our journalists from doing their jobs. The company's scalable and customizable platform holds industry-leading certifications and provides accessibility and efficiency at the state and local levels. ", "Trump campaign told to preserve all documents related to Sidney Powell and Dominion Voting Systems", "Bogus Theory Claims Supercomputer Switched Votes in Election", "Trump grasps at a new set of straws: Computers rigged his election loss", "Trump fires director of Homeland Security agency who had rejected President's election conspiracy theories", "How Sidney Powell inaccurately cited Venezuela's elections as evidence of U.S. fraud", "Great, We're at the '8kun's Admin Is an Election Security Expert' Stage of This Bullshit", "QAnon in Meltdown After Biden Inauguration: 'We Need to Go Back to Our Lives', "The Dangerous QAnon Figure Doing Whatever It Takes to Win Trump's Approval", "QAnon Left a Noose Outside a 20-Year-Old Election Worker's Home", "The Toll Of Conspiracy Theories: A Voting Security Expert Lives In Hiding", "Election fraud, QAnon, Jan. 6: Far-right extremists in Germany read from a pro-Trump script", "Voting machine company executive sues Trump allies for defamation", "Trump allies did little to investigate election fraud claims, court documents show", "Dominion worker sues Trump campaign and conservative media", "Dominion Employee Sues Sidney Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Trump Campaign and Right-Wing Media for Dragging His Name Through the Mud", "Newsmax Issues Retraction And Apology To Dominion Employee Over Election Stories", "Rudy Giuliani admits under oath that he got some of his 'evidence' of alleged election fraud from Facebook", "Mike Lindell sued by former Dominion employee Eric Coomer for defamation", "Judge rejects Trump allies' bid to dismiss defamation case brought by ex-Dominion executive falsely accused of election-rigging", "Giuliani told to preserve all records as lawyers for Dominion warn legal action is 'imminent', "Dominion Attorneys Send Brutal Letter to Trump Campaign's 'So-Called Star Witness' Mellissa Carone", "Trump campaign's star witness in Michigan was deemed 'not credible.' After losing the 2020 presidential election, which wascertified by the Electoral Collegeon Dec. 14, outgoing President Donald Trump has waged a campaign of disinformation about election interference and voter fraud. On December 1, Trump-hired attorney Lin Wood first revealed that China bought Dominion for $400 million. Lead Stories, Dec. 21, Fact Check: President-Elect Joe Biden's Sister Is NOT Married To Dominion Voting Systems' Owner Snopes, Dec. 14, No, Joe Biden's Nephew Doesn't Own Dominion Voting Systems [127], Last edited on 22 February 2023, at 20:48, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, problems with the reporting of tabulator counts, Attempts to overturn the 2020 United States presidential election, National Association of State Election Directors, National Association of Secretaries of State, Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy, Fox News controversies False claims about the 2020 election, List of electronic voting machines in New York state, "Company Overview of Dominion Voting Systems Corporation", "Trump Lashes Voting Tech Firm With Barrage of Debunked Claims", "One election-system vendor uses developers in Serbia", "Dominion Voting Systems "categorically denies" election tech glitches following Trump accusations", "QAnon's Dominion voter fraud conspiracy theory reaches the president", "No, Dominion voting machines did not delete Trump votes", "Repudiating Trump, officials say election 'most secure', "Georgia says voting machine audit found no evidence of fraud or tampering", "Lou Dobbs Airs Stunning Fact-Check of His Own Election Claims", "Maria Bartiromo Airs Fact-Check, Adds 'We Will Keep Investigating', "Newsmax issues sweeping 'clarification' debunking its own coverage of election misinformation", "Rudy Giuliani Sued by Dominion Voting Systems Over False Election Claims", "Dominion sues pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, seeking more than $1.3 billion", "Dominion sues Giuliani for $1.3 billion over 'Big Lie', "Trump-ally media outlet OAN quietly deleted articles about Dominion despite publicly doubling down on election conspiracy theories", "Pro-Trump outlet OAN is deleting all its articles about Dominion", "Dominion sues Newsmax and One America News over election fraud claims", "MyPillow launches yet another effort to get Dominion's defamation lawsuit dismissed", "Dominion: will one Canadian company bring down Trump's empire of disinformation? [9], Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani made several false assertions about Dominion, including that its voting machines used software developed by a competitor, Smartmatic, which he claimed actually owned Dominion, and which he said was founded by the former socialist Venezuelan leader Hugo Chvez. Despite providing the SEC form D for this claim, it was not quite correct. But at the time, he was . [37] Currently, Dominion provides optical scan paper ballot tabulation systems for provincial elections, including Ontario and New Brunswick. [11][12][13][14] In January 2021, Dominion filed defamation lawsuits against former Trump campaign lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, seeking $1.3 billion in damages from each. [100], Andrew Parker, a lawyer for My Pillow, Inc., on April 18, 2022, filed a countersuit in Minnesota asserting that Dominion is a governmental actor due to contracting with state and local agencies and that it had violated the company's rights under the First and Fourteenth amendment as well as inflicting "tortious interference with prospective businessusing today's cancel culture to eliminate dissent and to cover up the election issues that compromised the 2020 result. [69] The filing stated that the "false and baseless" claims against him have caused "immense injury to Dr. Coomer's reputation, professional standing, safety, and privacy. "[102], Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric M. Davis, on June 6, 2022, denied a motion from Newsmax to dismiss Dominion's case against them. As an example they pointed to how Fox News had settled in 2020 after the parents of Seth Rich sued due to Hannity and other Fox personnel trying to link his death to an email hack. [104] Dominion pointed to a claim that Murdoch urged a Republican Leader to ask other party members not to endorse the false theory. [51], Trump and others also made unsubstantiated claims that Dominion had close ties to the Clinton family or other Democrats. [33][failed verification], The Election Management System (EMS) includes a set of applications that handle pre- and post-voting activities, including ballot layout, programming media for voting equipment, generation of audio files, importing results data, and accumulating and reporting results. "[69], On October 7, 2021, CNN reported that after examining over 2,000 pages of documents provided to the court, that they had found that in sworn depositions to the court Giuliani stated that he had spent less than an hour reviewing allegations against Coomer and "didn't have the time"[70] to fact check them before taking them public in a November 19, 2020 press conference where he called Coomer "a vicious, vicious man" who is "close to Antifa" and is "completely warped and he specifically says that they're going to fix this election. [96], The next day, district judge Carl J. Nichols denied motions by Lindell, Powell, and Giuliani to dismiss the lawsuits against them. She stands in good company, right along with Trump lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani . Dominion Voting CEO and President John Poulos said, "Our senior management team is extremely pleased to partner with Staple Street Capital, which has a proven track record of successfully investing in growing mid-size businesses. [102] Lindell had sued the companies for defamation after they had filed suit for defamation against him. [69][70] Additionally, conservative media outlets OANN, Newsmax, and The Gateway Pundit were also named. [93], On August 4, 2021, a federal judge granted a sanctions motion against Gary Fielder and Ernest John Walker, the attorneys that filed suit against Dominion, Facebook, and others claiming fraud in the 2020 presidential election. [81], Under threat of litigation, on January 15, 2021, the conservative online magazine American Thinker published a retraction of stories it published asserting that Dominion engaged in a conspiracy to rig the election, acknowledging, "these statements are completely false and have no basis in fact". Forget about any judgment. Dominion also provides ballot tabulation and voting systems for Canada's major party leadership elections, including those of the Liberal Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada, and the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Chinese Technology in Voting Machines Seen as Emerging Threat. [15][16] After Dominion filed its lawsuit against Powell, One America News Network (OANN) removed all references to Dominion and Smartmatic from its website, though without issuing public retractions. Dominion provides election equipment and software to 28 states, including many of the swing states on which Trump has focused his post-election ire. The company maintains headquarters in Toronto and in . Their revenues came from 19 states and 133 local governments . Topline. "Dominion and other voting system manufacturers submit extensive company disclosures to federal and state authorities as terms of product testing and system certification.". Network owner also admitted in $1.6bn defamation lawsuit deposition that Trumps claims were damaging to everybody. [92] A Fox News motion to dismiss the suit was denied on December 16, 2021, by a Delaware Superior Court judge.