Sunshine Sentinel

Smartmatic has been plagued by controversy in recent years following its alleged link to Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, significant election-related issues and its association with the far left.

Earlier this year, Smartmatic voting machines in Florida and Washington had software failures. 

Owned by New York-based Dominion Voting Systems, Smartmatic drew criticism for supplying voting machines for the 2004 recall election of Chavez in Venezuela. The company was awarded the $91 million contract to provide the voting systems shortly before the election. This move raised questions as to why Venezuela would switch to a new voting system so close to their election.

Jim Bleck, who designed the very first operational voting machine that integrated both hardware and software and built 100,000 voting machines for Sequoia Systems before leaving the field in 1996, said he found the deal quite puzzling.

“I never understood the whole story behind that,” Bleck said. “I remember when I heard that this Venezuelan company was buying them – I think they were in financial trouble – They were buying [from] Sequoia. And I was like, that doesn't make any sense. Why would you allow a foreign company [to] buy it?”

Sidney Powell, then a member of the Trump campaign legal team, told Fox News that the software used for the voting machines in question was designed to be manipulable.

"We have sworn witness testimony of why the software was designed,” Powell told Fox News. “It was designed to rig elections." 

Powell went on to state that the witness was privy to information regarding the use of the voting machines internationally “for profit by the people who are behind Smartmatic and Dominion."

Bleck said he wondered why the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) didn’t have more oversight in the deal with Venezuela. 

At the time the voting machines were sold, Venezuela had a booming economy and was the richest country in South America, Bleck added.

“It seemed like the guys in Venezuela saw an opportunity, regardless of whether it was a political plot, I think they saw a business opportunity and jumped on it,” he said.  

Over the years there has been a growing concern over voting machine software used in elections. Troubled, Bleck decided to leave the field and now designs equipment for the medical field mainly. 

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