Whitepaper Report: Dominion, Smartmatic, Venezuela & Election Integrity (2020–2025)
Implications for Canada
Executive Summary
From 2020–2025, U.S. election integrity became a national-security debate centered on electronic voting infrastructure, lawfare, and information control. Core flashpoints include: (1) official claims that the 2020 election was “the most secure” ever, (2) allegations of foreign entanglements around Smartmatic and Dominion, (3) unprecedented defamation litigation that chilled media inquiry, and (4) a high-profile Colorado case revealing serious chain-of-custody failures in a county’s voting environment.
Key facts are not in dispute: CISA’s November 12, 2020 “most secure” statement; the Fox–Dominion settlement of $787.5 million; Smartmatic’s $2.7B defamation action against Fox that continues in New York courts; and federal indictments (2023–2024) tied to the Philippines’ 2016 election and Smartmatic-linked executives.
At the same time, other claims remain contested or unverified (e.g., detailed “foot patrol” operations, specific foreign server routing on U.S. election night, or CIA shielding of foreign officials). This paper separates verifiable facts from allegations, then outlines concrete, Canada-ready reforms: hand-marked paper ballots, manual counts, and open audits.
1) Timeline Highlights (2020–2025)
Late 2020: Official “most secure” framing
CISA and election partners issued a joint statement calling 2020 “the most secure in American history.”
January 2021: Intelligence disputes & immediate lawfare
DNI John Ratcliffe transmitted a letter referencing disputes inside the IC over China’s role—documented by the Washington Post’s publication of his letter and coverage of the ombudsman report.
Dominion filed billion-dollar defamation suits against Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani; Smartmatic filed a $2.7B defamation suit against Fox and others.
2021–2023: Litigation expands; media impact
Courts allowed the suits to move forward; Fox’s attempts to dismiss Smartmatic claims were largely rejected.
April 2023: Fox settled the Dominion case for $787.5M—one of the largest defamation settlements in U.S. history.
2021–2024: Election security drills; public messaging
CISA and partners ran recurring “Tabletop the Vote” exercises with state and local officials, underscoring the government’s posture that defenses were robust.
2023–2024: Philippines corruption cases touching Smartmatic ecosystem
Sept 19, 2023: U.S. charges against former Philippines COMELEC chair Juan Andres Bautista (money-laundering conspiracy).
Aug 8, 2024: U.S. grand jury in S.D. Florida indicted three executives of an “election voting machine and service provider company” plus Bautista for bribery and money laundering related to the 2016 Philippine elections. (DOJ release).
2024–2025: Mesa County, CO case culminates in conviction and 9-year sentence
Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was found guilty (Aug 2024) on multiple charges stemming from unauthorized access to voting systems and was later sentenced to nine years (Oct 2024). Ongoing 2025 filings reflect continuing custody and federal habeas activity.
2024–2025: Ongoing disputes about January 6 and confidential human sources
DOJ OIG reported on the FBI’s handling of confidential human sources; public summaries reference CHS usage in Jan. 6 context, though specific counts and case details remain a moving target across releases.
2) Smartmatic–Sequoia–Dominion: What’s Documented vs. Alleged
Documented corporate history
2005–2006: CFIUS scrutiny of Smartmatic’s ownership prompted sale of Sequoia Voting Systems (SVS) out of Smartmatic’s hands. Congressional records and press confirm the CFIUS pressure and sale.
2010: Dominion Voting Systems (Toronto) acquired the assets and IP of Sequoia. Official notices and manufacturer records corroborate the transaction and presence in ~300 jurisdictions across 16 states.
Allegations (disputed or unverified)
Direct, ongoing software control by Smartmatic over Dominion systems in U.S. elections.
Foreign election-night routing of U.S. votes through specific non-U.S. data centers (Huawei/Serbia/Hong Kong) as an operational fact.
CIA/USAID pipeline funding Smartmatic contracts post-2016 to influence foreign elections.
These require independent, technical evidence (forensic logs, ISP records, subpoenas) not yet available in public dockets. Treat as unproven.
3) Lawfare & Media Effects (Verifiable)
Dominion v. Fox settled for $787.5M (Apr 18, 2023).
Smartmatic v. Fox ($2.7B) remains active; intermediate appellate rulings largely allow Smartmatic’s claims to proceed against Fox News.
Dominion’s federal cases against Powell and Giuliani survived dismissal; extensive records exist.
Bottom line: The litigation climate chilled mainstream coverage of technical allegations while boosting the state’s “secure election” narrative.
4) Security Exercises & Official Assurances (Verifiable)
CISA’s joint statement framed 2020 security. Ongoing “Tabletop the Vote” exercises (2018–2024) reinforced public assurances. Smartmatic publicized participating in a CISA-coordinated exercise in 2021.
Counter-point: Official drills and press releases are process signals, not proof of uncompromised code, configurations, or live-ops networks.
5) Colorado Forensics Flashpoint (Partially Verifiable, Contested)
What’s verifiable: Tina Peters preserved images, facilitated unauthorized system access, and was convicted/sentenced (Aug–Oct 2024).
What’s disputed: Expert claims of disabled audit logging, “shadow databases,” and mass re-processing. Colorado officials and mainstream outlets dispute manipulation; independent forensic datasets are not broadly available for peer review. Treat technical conclusions as allegations pending open, third-party replication.
6) Foreign Corruption Connections (Verifiable in Part)
U.S. DOJ indictments connect the Philippines’ 2016 elections to bribery/money-laundering by executives of an election technology firm associated with Smartmatic and the former COMELEC chair.
Caveat: These charges pertain to the Philippines context; they do not, by themselves, prove U.S. vote tampering. They do, however, establish an integrity and governance risk profile for suppliers in the election-tech space.
7) Canadian Implications
Why Canada is exposed
Supplier proximity: Dominion is Toronto-based and historically integrated Sequoia IP (2010). Canadian institutions have reputational and regulatory exposure if future litigation uncovers deeper Smartmatic ties than publicly disclosed.
Shared narratives: If U.S. courts and agencies continue to endorse broad “security” narratives while defamation suits deter media scrutiny, Canadian media and watchdogs could mirror the same chilling effects.
Five Eyes spillover: Intelligence and cyber postures flow across alliances. Confidence games (or real gaps) in one ally’s election infrastructure can propagate uncertainty in others.
Practical risks to manage (regardless of one’s politics)
Black-box dependencies: Proprietary code, remote-support channels, and patching windows create unverifiable links in the chain-of-custody.
Litigation chilling effect: When disputes are venue-controlled by defamation cases, technical truth tends to lose oxygen.
Public trust: Even the appearance of foreign capture or opaque suppliers suppresses turnout, depresses legitimacy, and polarizes outcomes.
8) Policy Recommendations for Canada (Actionable Now)
Mandate hand-marked paper ballots and hand counts in all binding elections; use electronics for assistive tech only.
No foreign-controlled or black-box components in any tabulation chain. Require code escrow and independent compilation from source by accredited Canadian labs.
Open, real-time transparency: Publish precinct-level tallies, ballot-image repositories (where lawful), chain-of-custody logs, and network-traffic captures from election day—online, immutable, and in machine-readable formats.
Independent audit authority: A citizen-auditor office (arms-length from Elections Canada/provinces) empowered to subpoena suppliers, inspect firmware, and publish audits without NDAs.
Anti-lawfare shield: Targeted statutory protection for journalists, researchers, and public-interest technologists who publish good-faith election-security findings.
Live-ops isolation: Absolute network segmentation (or air-gap) for tabulators; any vendor remote-access must be statutorily prohibited during vote windows.
Kill-switch on pilots: Sunset clauses for any electronic pilot with automatic reversion to manual if audit thresholds aren’t met.
Notes on Evidence & Disputed Claims
Official “most secure” statement (Nov. 12, 2020): CISA/GCC press release.
Intelligence dispute: WaPo published DNI Ratcliffe’s letter and reporting on analyst disagreements (Jan. 8, 2021).
Fox–Dominion settlement ($787.5M): AP and Susman Godfrey confirm.
Smartmatic’s $2.7B case vs. Fox: Court filings and opinions in NY; Smartmatic’s legal portal.
DOJ Philippines indictments (Aug. 8, 2024): DOJ press release (S.D. Fla.).
Sequoia/Smartmatic/CFIUS, Dominion acquisition of Sequoia assets (2010): Congressional hearing record; WSJ; EAC and transaction docs.
CISA election exercises (2018–2024): CISA releases; Smartmatic media post.
Mesa County/Tina Peters conviction & sentence: Axios Denver, CPR News, subsequent 2025 coverage.
Unverified/contested items (treat as allegations unless corroborated by primary technical evidence or sworn, tested testimony):
Foreign election-night routing through specified data centers; “foot patrol” internal briefings and operational details; claims of CIA hiding foreign witnesses; specific Huawei server assertions in the U.S. election chain; expansive claims about CHS counts beyond OIG summaries.
One-Page Takeaway
Paper ballots, hand counts, and radical transparency restore legitimacy fast. The U.S. record proves two things at once: officials can claim “security” while courtrooms and indictments keep exposing cracks. Canada shouldn’t wait for our own courtroom epiphanies. Lock in paper. Open the code. Publish the logs.