SAN DIEGO — Voting technology company Smartmatic settled its defamation lawsuit against San Diego-based One America News (OAN) Network over allegations that the conservative network spread misinformation suggesting that Smartmatic’s voting software and technology had a role in rigging the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit filed in 2021 in U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia alleged OAN knowingly reported falsehoods suggesting Smartmatic’s technology affected the result of the 2020 election.
Smartmatic further stated in its lawsuit that its role in the election was limited to providing technology and services only to Los Angeles County and nowhere else in the country, yet OAN “published report after report naming Smartmatic as one of the voting machine companies that had conspired to steal the election by switching votes from former President Trump to current President Biden.”
Attorneys on both sides said terms of Tuesday’s settlement were confidential.
Florida-based Smartmatic also filed similar, pending lawsuits against Fox News and Newsmax.
The Smartmatic lawsuit against OAN is separate from a defamation suit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which leveled similar allegations against the network.
Though Dominion’s lawsuit against OAN remains ongoing, OAN and one of its correspondents, Chanel Rion, reached a settlement last year in a separate defamation suit with former Dominion executive Eric Coomer.
Dominion also filed defamation complaints against Fox News, Newsmax, and multiple allies of former President Trump, all of which were accused of spreading misinformation regarding election fraud. Last year, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion $787.5 million to settle its lawsuit.
