Voting technology firm, conservative outlet seek favorable ruling in 2020 election defamation case

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Attorneys for an electronic voting company targeted by allies of former President Donald Trump with accusations of manipulating the 2020 presidential election asked a Delaware judge Thursday to rule in their favor in a defamation lawsuit against a conservative news outlet.

Florida-based Smartmatic sued Newsmax in 2021, claiming the cable network’s hosts and guests made false and defamatory statements in the weeks after the election that implied Smartmatic participated in rigging the results and that its software was used to switch votes.

“Smartmatic did not participate in rigging the 2020 election, and its software was not used to switch a single vote,” Smartmatic attorney J. Erik Connolly told Superior Court Judge Eric Davis during a hearing.

Attorneys for Newsmax, which also is based in Florida, are asking Davis to rule in their favor in advance of a trial that is scheduled to begin Sept. 30 and continue up to four weeks. The company argues it was simply reporting on serious and newsworthy allegations being made by Trump and his supporters about possible vote-rigging.

The judge has said that Florida defamation law applies to the case. Newsmax attorney Misha Tseytlin urged Davis to find that, under Florida law, a “fair reporting” or “neutral reporting” privilege should protect Newsmax from liability.

“There’s no evidence whatsoever that we imposed any harm on them,” Tseytlin said.

Davis did not rule on the competing summary judgment motions and advised attorneys to continue preparing for trial while he considers the arguments.

The Delaware lawsuit is one of several stemming from reports on conservative news outlets in the wake of the 2020 election. Smartmatic also is suing Fox News for defamation in