Can Dominion Voting Systems change votes in real time? No, that's not true. A report on One America News questioned whether the company was "manipulating the outcome of the 2020 election." The segment noted Trump attorney Sidney Powell said the company could change votes in real time, the company had ties to high-level Democrats and that a ballot glitch in Floyd County, Georgia, raised questions. Dominion Voting Systems denied being able to change votes in real time. The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said, "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised." The other claims are refuted by the company and the Georgia secretary of state. There is a lobbyist who was hired by Dominion who previously worked for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, but the company hired Republican lobbyists as well.
The claim appeared as a video published by OAN -- One America News Network -- on November 18, 2020, titled "Dominion Voting Systems under scrutiny for security" (archived here) which opened:
One of the nation's biggest voting machine operators, Dominion Voting Systems, appears to have ties to high-level Democrats. One America's Pearson Sharp has more on the story as Democratic senators warn that electronic voting machines are highly vulnerable to hacking.
Click below to watch the video on YouTube:
OAN's video report itself contradicts the ballot alteration claim it makes. Right after the narrator says Dominion can change ballots, a video clip of a Dominion representative appears in which he clearly says "only through the adjudication system...We update the audit mark. We never update the actual image of the physical ballot." Here is the Dominion website's description of that system of keeping track of ballots that election staff need to check.
The OAN report showed a picture of Sidney Powell appearing on FOX News Business channel and claimed:
"Powell explained that operators at Dominion can watch the votes coming in in real time and more importantly they can also switch the votes in real time."
Dominion denies its systems can change votes in real time. From the company's site:
1) VOTE DELETION/SWITCHING ASSERTIONS ARE COMPLETELY FALSE.
Dominion does not have the ability review votes in real time as they are submitted.
The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also debunked that claim on its website.
A joint statement from the Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council & the Elections Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees said on November 12, 2020, that there was no evidence of votes being changed.
When states have close elections, many will recount ballots. All of the states with close results in the 2020 presidential race have paper records of each vote, allowing the ability to go back and count each ballot if necessary. This is an added benefit for security and resilience. This process allows for the identification and correction of any mistakes or errors. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised."
The OAN report noted the stories of uncounted ballots in Floyd County, Georgia, as another reason to question Dominion Voter Systems. From the report;
Following the previous discovery that some 2,600 uncounted ballots were uncovered in Floyd County which Georgia's voting system chief Gabriel Sterling called an amazing blunder."
Georgia's secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, said the uncounted ballots were a "blunder" but the mistake was a clerical error and not due to Dominion Voting Systems software, WSBTV2 in Atlanta reported.
WJCL22 News reported the secretary of state completed an audit of the state's voting machines and there were no signs of foul play.
Dominion denied responsibility on its website:
Dominion's systems are not responsible for 2,631 uncounted ballots discovered in Floyd County, Georgia during the statewide recount. The Secretary of State's office has cited clerical error and lack of following proper procedures as the cause.
The OAN report claims Dominion, "appears to have questionable relationships with some of the biggest names in the Democrat party." This is misleading.
Dominion did hire lobbyist Nadeam Elshami, who previously worked for House Speaker NancyPelosi, D-California, but the company has also hired lobbyists who worked for Republicans, The Associated Press reported.
Opensecrets.com reported Elshami is a lobbyists representing Dominion Voting Systems, 2020.
Other Dominion lobbyists also include Brian Wild, who previously worked for John Boehner, a former House speaker, and for former Vice President Dick Cheney, both Republicans. Jared Thomas, a longtime aide to Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, also has lobbied for Dominion, the AP reported.
Lead Stories has debunked various claims about Dominion since the election. Here are some of our latest stories:
