The Presidential Election of 2020 is sure to be one of the most infamous in American history. The Covid-19 pandemic led to unprecedented changes in how absentee ballots were distributed, and changes to states’ voting processes were challenged until the last minute. And from the moment multiple states began halting their counts in the middle of the night on Election Day, only to resume reporting massive ballot dumps for one candidate, the stage was set for a bitter protest of the results. In the process of the controversy swirling around the Presidential Election, and the incumbent’s refusal to concede, America learned that one company was deeply invested in the infrastructures which brought it the results. Dominion Voting Systems is a private corporation specializing in election hard & software around the globe and has a multi-million dollar network of partnerships with states across our country.
Background on Dominion Voting Systems, Inc
According to its corporate profile on Dun & Bradstreet, Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., was incorporated in 2009 and is based out of offices in Toronto, Canada, Colorado, New York, and California. The company specializes in voting hardware and software, and apart from its presence in 600 United States jurisdictions, operates on an international scale. “Its flagship product line, Democracy Suite, comprises various systems used by election officials, including optical ballot scanners and vote tabulators, voter list generators, election management software, and electronic ballot systems for absentee voting.” While many Americans may have been surprised to learn of the extent in which a corporate entity played in managing their elections, perhaps even more surprising were the massive contracts doled out to Dominion for their services by states around the country.
Dominion Voting Systems Revenue
As a private corporation, Dominion is not required to disclose the revenue procured through their contracts with state and local governments, but those governments are. An investigation by Forbes has revealed massive amounts of money going to Dominion on the taxpayer dime, with some contracts, like in the state of Georgia, totaling well north of $100m. “In 2019, a $107 million ten-year contract with Dominion procured by the Secretary of State covers 30,000 touch screen voting machines and the installation of a ‘verified paper ballot’ voting system.” A whopping $89m was paid upfront in the first two years of the massive contract. But according to Forbes’ research, while Georgia may have been Dominion’s largest contract, it was far from the only lucrative deal reached in recent years. Michigan paid $31.5m. New Mexico, $52m. Counties in California, Illinois, and Nevada all paid over $30m for multiyear contracts with Dominion voting systems. Ultimately, the publication found that while Dominion claimed operating in 600 American jurisdictions, “…the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative estimated that Dominion was in 1,645 jurisdictions with $100 million in annual revenues.”
As is evidenced by Dominion Voting Systems massive presence in states across America, voting is big business, and one company has seemingly cornered the market. Multiple lawsuits and public accusations have made America aware of this fact when the country may have never otherwise realized that one company could have been so entrenched in our electoral process. Audit results unsealed in Antrim County, Michigan suggest there may have been unprecedented errors in the counting process, in Maricopa County, Arizona, officials have defied a subpoena to audit the Dominion machines, and in Georgia, machines have now been frozen in an ongoing lawsuit against the state. Whether you believe there was election fraud in 2020 or not, the mix of taxpayer money and private business has led to an opaque process that has inherently undermined the trust in our most sacred public institution for many, while enriching a few.
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