Smartmatic was founded in 2000 by Antonio Mugica, Alfredo José Anzola, and Roger Piñate and gained attention quickly after it was chosen to replace voting machines in Venezuela ahead of Hugo Chávez's 2004 reelection.

Smartmatic was a little-known firm with no experience in voting technology before it was chosen by the Venezuelan authorities to replace the country's elections machinery ahead of a contentious referendum that confirmed Hugo Chávez as president in August 2004.

[24][25] In 2014, Smartmatic's CEO Antonio Mugica and British Lord Mark Malloch-Brown announced the launching of the SGO Corporation Limited,[26][27] a holding company based in London whose primary asset is the election technology and voting machine manufacturer.

They were joined on SGO's board by Sir Nigel Knowles, Global CEO of DLA Piper, entrepreneur David Giampaolo and Roger Piñate, Smartmatic's COO and co-founder.

[29] The aim of SGO, according to its CEO was "to continue to make investments in its core business (election technology), but it is also set to roll out a series of new ventures based on biometrics, online identity verification, internet voting and citizen participation, e-governance and pollution control.”[30] The company was contracted in 2004 for the automation of electoral processes in Venezuela.

[53] In an evaluation by constitutional law researcher Carlos Vegas González, he stated that the printout ballot increased transparency and noted that Smartmatic's system was independently certified by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Based on our tests, we conclude that a state-level attacker, sophisticated criminal, or dishonest insider could defeat both the technological and procedural controls in order to manipulate election outcomes.

... Due to these risks, we recommend that Estonia discontinue use of the I-voting system.The Estonian National Electoral Committee responded to the report, stating that the claims "were unsubstantiated and the described attacks infeasible.

Several groups which were benefiting from the traditionally fraudulent conduct of Philippines polls[77] found themselves facing great political and economic loss with the promised transparency and audit-ability of the automated elections system.

The Manila Times stating that "only the truly uninformed would still find Smartmatic’s combination of PCOS/VCM and CCS an acceptable solution to the automation of Philippine elections" and that "glitches" as well as the "lack of transparency ... convinced us of the system’s unreliability and its vulnerability to tampering".

On August 2 of 2017, Smartmatic CEO Antonio Mugica stated on a press briefing in London "We know, without a doubt, that the result of the recent elections for a National Constituent Assembly were manipulated," and added "We estimate that the difference between actual and announced participation by the authorities is at least one million votes.

[110] Since 2006, the Office of the Mayor of Metropolitan Caracas in Venezuela began the installation of the integrated public security system that helps authorities to provide immediate response to citizens whose safety has been jeopardized.

"[120][121] Dr. Tulio Alvarez, who had performed an independent observation of the election which detailed the networks between CNE and Smartmatic, described the Carter Center's findings as "insufficient, superficial and irresponsible".

[104] A lawyer who had worked with Rodríguez, Moisés Maiónica, was allegedly employed by Smartmatic in order to provide legal and financial assistance to help with its selection for its 2004 elections.

In June 2022, Smartmatic filed for arbitration with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), accusing the Venezuelan regime of threats and coercion following the company's exit.

[104] Following this acquisition, U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney requested an investigation to determine whether the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) had followed correct processes to green-light sale of Sequoia to Smartmatic, which was described as having "possible ties to the Venezuelan government".

The 276-page complaint alleges that Fox, its anchors, Giuliani, and Powell spread a "conspiracy to defame and disparage Smartmatic and its election technology and software", damaging its business and making it difficult for the company to attract new customers.

"[160] New York Supreme Court Justice David B. Cohen ruled on 8 March 2022 that the suit against Fox News could proceed, though he dismissed allegations against Powell and Pirro, and some claims against Giuliani letting others move forward.

The Court agreed with Giuliani's legal team that Smartmatic's claims about how much his statements disparaging their software would affect the company's future earnings were not specific enough but were conjectural, speculative, and general.

[170] Earlier, in email correspondence with Forbes, Powell called Smartmatic's lawsuit "just another political maneuver motivated by the radical left that has no basis in fact or law.

"[171] Fox News filed a counterclaim against Smartmatic, on 17 March 2022, saying that the voting machine manufacturer had violated anti-SLAPP laws, which were passed to protect media companies from abusive litigation.

"[172] On 19 May 2022, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought against Smartmatic (and also Dominion Voting Systems Inc.) while also imposing sanctions on Mike Lindell CEO of MyPillow.

[174] They claimed that Smartmatic was formed by three Venezuelans with connections to the government of Hugo Chavez, was "the subject of widespread concerns about foreign influence" and that it "sold off a subsidiary rather than face additional scrutiny.

[175] In early July 2022, two lawyers from the U.K. based Kennedys Law LLP, Michael J. Tricarico and Marc Casarino joined Powell's legal team of Lawrence J. Joseph and J. Howard Kleinhendler in the defamation cases involving Smartmatic Corp. and Dominion Voting Systems.

[177][178][179][180]) Media outlets, such as the Guardian, mentioned the lawsuit against Fox News in late July when excerpts of Jared Kushner's book Breaking History were released.

[183] Ruling from St. Paul, Minnesota, federal Judge Wilhelmina Wright sided with Smartmatic and denied MyPillow Inc. and Lindell's motion to dismiss their suit on 19 September 2022.

[78] After the newspaper reported that Smartmatic had been funneling voter information through "unofficial servers",[191] The Manila Times ultimately called on officials from the country's electoral body, COMELEC, to resign.

[197] On June 29, 2010, the Philippine Computer Society (PCS) filed a complaint with the country's Ombudsman against 17 officials of the Commission on Elections and the Smartmatic-TIM Corp. for alleged "incompetence", graft and unethical conduct.

[191] In an October 2016 editorial, The Manila Times called on all members of COMELEC to resign due to the "innumerable controversies since its adoption of the Smartmatic-based Automated Election System".

[202] In August 2024, the United States Department of Justice announced that the Florida US federal grand jury indicted Andres Bautista, including Roger Piñate and Smartmatic officers Elie Moreno and Jose Miguel Velasquez.