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Quick Take
Dominion Voting Systems, which was the target of baseless conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, will be used by 27 states in the 2024 election. But some social media posts falsely claim Gov. Ron DeSantis said Dominion “will NOT operate in the state of Florida.” The Florida Department of State approved the use of Dominion equipment, which will be used in 18 counties.
Full Story
Dominion Voting Systems has been a target of election-related misinformation, as we’ve previously written.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump pushed a baseless conspiracy theory that Dominion Voting Systems had switched “thousands of votes” from Trump to President-elect Joe Biden and “deleted” millions of Trump votes, citing a report by One America News. A group of federal, state and local officials overseeing the nation’s voting system refuted such claims just hours after Trump tweeted them.
“There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised,” the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council and the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees said in a joint statement. The statement described the 2020 election as “the most secure in American history.”
On April 18, 2023, Dominion Voting Systems settled a defamation lawsuit against Fox News for $787.5 million after alleging the news organization and some of its commentators spread lies about the company. Several months later, a Dominion executive settled a suit against One American News, but the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Dominion Voting Systems currently supplies election technology in 27 states and Puerto Rico and is “committed to ensuring the security of elections,” according to the company website. Dominion also maintains a fact-checking resource to address misinformation relating to the 2024 election.
But recent social media posts falsely claim that Dominion Voting Systems will not operate in Florida this November and mischaracterize Dominion ownership.
One Threads user falsely claimed, “BREAKING: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says Dominion voting systems will NOT operate in the state of Florida.”
A post on Instagram included this same allegation, plus additional misleading questions regarding Dominion ownership: “Who owns stock in Dominion voting systems? Do Congress members? Do past and current presidents? Do family members of government officials? Are the elections rigged by both sides of the aisle?”
Contrary to the claims on social media, Dominion Voting Systems will operate in Florida this election. And the company has “no ownership ties to … U.S. political party leaders,” the company website states. Dominion Voting Systems is a privately held company, meaning it is not traded on stock exchanges or legally required to report financial information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
As we’ve written, the private equity firm Staple Street Capital owns a roughly 76% stake in Dominion Voting Systems. John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, owns 12% of the company, and the rest is owned by other members of the company’s leadership.
In an email to FactCheck.org, a Dominion Voting Systems spokesperson said, “Fact: Dominion systems are being used by voters across the State of Florida for the November 2024 election.”
“The company has thousands of customer jurisdictions spread across 27 states,” the spokesperson said.
The Florida Division of Elections had certified two voting systems and vendors as of March 4: Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software. According to a map posted to the division’s website, 18 Florida counties will use Dominion Voting Systems and 49 counties will use Election Systems & Software.
Voting systems must be approved by the Florida Department of State prior to use. The department only approves voting systems that comply with state law. For example, the system must accurately count votes and provide records “from which the operation of the voting system may be audited.”
Following approval, the Florida Division of Elections explains on its website, “Voting system software is only issued to county Supervisors of Elections by the Florida Department of State through a ‘trusted build’ process — a secure and well-documented closed chain-of-custody process followed before, throughout, and after installation of new equipment or software.”
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Robertson, Lori, et al. “Trump Repeats Baseless, False Claims About the Election.” FactCheck.org. 1 Dec 2020.
Rieder, Rem. “Trump Tweets Conspiracy Theory About Deleted Votes.” FactCheck.org. 12 Nov 2020.
Fichera, Angelo. “Audit in Michigan County Refutes Dominion Conspiracy Theory.” FactCheck.org. 18 Dec 2020.
Sanger, David E., et al. “Election Officials Directly Contradict Trump on Voting System Fraud.” New York Times. 12 Nov 2020.
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. “Joint Statement from Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council & the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees.” Press Release. 12 Nov 2020.
Folkenflik, David, and Mary Yang. “Fox News settles blockbuster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems.” NPR. 18 Apr 2023.
Sneed, Tierney and Marshall Cohen. “Far-right network OAN settles 2020 election defamation suit brought by ex-Dominion executive.” 5 Sep 2023.
Dominion Voting Systems. “The Dominion Difference – We Deliver!” Accessed 24 Oct 2024.
Dominion Voting Systems. “Setting the Record Straight: Facts About Dominion.” Accessed 24 Oct 2024.
U.S. Government Publishing Office. “Dominion Voting Systems.” 11 Nov 2020.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “About.” 29 Jun 2024.
Dominion Voting Systems. “Dominion Voting Systems Acquired by its Management Team and Staple Street Capital.” PR Newswire. 16 Jul 2018.
Bloomberg. “Fox’s Dominion payout gives Staple Street Capital 1,500% return.” Pensions & Investments. 19 Apr 2023.
Florida Division of Elections. “Certified Voting Systems and Vendors.” 4 Mar 2024.
Florida Division of Elections. “Voting Systems in Florida by Vendor.” Feb 2024.
Florida Division of Elections. “About Voting Systems.” 17 Feb 2023.
Online Sunshine. Accessed 24 Oct 2024.
The post Dominion Voting Systems Will Operate in Florida, Contrary to Online Claims appeared first on FactCheck.org.
