Judge rules out possibility of punitive damages in Smartmatic defamation lawsuit against Newsmax

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A Delaware judge on Monday ruled out the possibility of punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit pitting an electronic voting machine manufacturer targeted by allies of former President Donald Trump against a conservative news outlet that aired accusations of vote manipulation in the 2020 election.

The ruling by Superior Court Judge Eric Davis comes just days before jury selection is set to begin in a court battle between Florida-based Smartmatic and cable network Newsmax.

Smartmatic claims that Newsmax program hosts and guests made false and defamatory statements in November and December 2020 implying that Smartmatic participated in rigging the results and that its software was used to switch votes. Newsmax, also based in Florida, argues that it was simply reporting on newsworthy allegations being made by Trump and his supporters, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and conservative attorney Sidney Powell.

In a ruling earlier this month, Davis said statements regarding Smartmatic software or voting machines altering the results of the election are “factually false.” Importantly, however, he rejected Smartmatic’s claim that Newsmax acted with “express malice” under Florida law, meaning that its primary motivation was to injure Smartmatic.

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