Voting Machine Lawsuit: Key Cases and 2026 Updates

Never Miss a Lawsuit Update

Mark Lawfold as a Preferred Source so you never miss a settlement deadline or new filing.

Latest Update (as of September 25, 2026): Dominion Voting Systems was sold in October 2025 to a company led by former Republican election official Scott Leiendecker and rebranded as Liberty Vote. In June 2026, Liberty Vote dropped Dominion’s $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit against Mike Lindell and MyPillow, ending the case “with prejudice” through a confidential settlement — both sides are covering their own legal fees. Lindell still faces a separate federal defamation suit from Smartmatic: a judge already ruled in September 2025 that Lindell defamed the company, with a jury still to decide damages. Meanwhile, the flagship Smartmatic v. Fox News case remains in pretrial proceedings, with no trial date set as of this writing; the most recent confirmed court action was a May 2026 New York appellate ruling granting Fox limited added discovery.

Last updated: September 2026

Voting machine lawsuits have reshaped how the public, the media, and the courts think about election technology and accountability. The biggest cases involve billions of dollars in claimed damages, some of the most powerful media companies in America, and questions about what you can and cannot say about election equipment.

Here's something related: Education Lawsuit Last Week: 2026 Payout and Filing Guide

These cases aren’t just legal drama. They affect how elections are run, how machines get certified, and who pays when false claims cause real damage.

This article breaks down every major voting machine lawsuit in 2026, including who filed, what they alleged, what courts have decided, and what comes next. You’ll also find answers to the most common questions voters and observers are asking right now.

One fact sets the stage: Dominion Voting Systems reached a $787.5 million settlement with Fox News in April 2023, making it one of the largest defamation settlements in American media history.

What Is a Voting Machine Lawsuit in 2026?

A voting machine lawsuit is a legal action filed against a voting machine manufacturer, a media company, a public figure, or a government entity over claims related to election equipment.

These cases fall into two broad categories. The first covers defamation lawsuits, where voting machine companies sue media figures or politicians for spreading false claims about their machines. The second covers security and certification lawsuits, where voters, states, or advocacy groups challenge the reliability or legality of specific voting systems.

In 2026, both tracks remain active. Courts are still working through several major cases, and new challenges have been filed at the state level.

The stakes are enormous. These lawsuits touch the core of how Americans trust the democratic process.

The Dominion Voting Systems Lawsuit Explained

The Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit is the most high-profile voting machine defamation case in American legal history.

Dominion filed suit against Fox News, Fox Corporation, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, among others, after the 2020 presidential election. The company alleged that these defendants knowingly spread false claims that Dominion’s machines had been used to rig the election in favor of Joe Biden.

Dominion’s case against Fox News settled for $787.5 million in April 2023, just as the trial was set to begin. The settlement included no admission of wrongdoing from Fox News, but it was widely seen as a significant legal and reputational loss for the network.

The Lindell case remains one of the most closely watched ongoing matters in 2026. Dominion is still seeking substantial damages from the MyPillow founder.

Bold Stat: Dominion’s total claimed damages across all defendants exceeded $1.6 billion at the time the suits were filed.

Smartmatic Lawsuit 2026: Where Things Stand

The Smartmatic lawsuit against Fox News is one of the largest active defamation cases in U.S. history, with damages sought totaling $2.7 billion.

Smartmatic is an election technology company that provided voting software in Los Angeles County during the 2020 election. It was not used in any of the battleground states that became the focus of election fraud claims. Despite that, Fox News personalities broadcast repeated allegations that Smartmatic’s software had manipulated vote counts.

Smartmatic filed its lawsuit in February 2021 in New York State Supreme Court. Unlike the Dominion case, which settled before trial, the Smartmatic case has moved through extensive pretrial litigation. As of 2026, the case is expected to reach trial.

The Smartmatic case is significant because its trial could set new legal standards for how media companies handle election-related claims. A verdict here, unlike a settlement, would create binding legal precedent.

Key distinction: Smartmatic did not settle. That means a full trial and a public verdict are still on the table.

Key Takeaway: The two biggest voting machine defamation lawsuits, Dominion and Smartmatic, took very different paths. Dominion settled for $787.5 million. Smartmatic is pushing toward a trial that could set lasting legal precedent in 2026.

The Fox News Voting Machine Lawsuit: What Happened After the Settlement?

The Fox News voting machine lawsuit settlement in 2023 was historic, but it did not end Fox’s legal exposure.

When Dominion settled with Fox News for $787.5 million in April 2023, Fox avoided a public trial that would have forced its executives and on-air personalities to testify about what they privately believed about the election fraud claims they were broadcasting. Internal documents revealed during discovery showed Fox anchors and executives privately doubted the claims they were airing.

After the Dominion settlement, Fox still faced the active Smartmatic case. The Smartmatic suit covers a different set of broadcasts and a different alleged victim, so the Dominion settlement provided no legal shelter there.

Fox News also faced ongoing scrutiny from shareholders and advertisers following the disclosures made during Dominion discovery. Several shareholder lawsuits were filed alleging that Fox leadership misled investors about the company’s legal exposure.

The post-settlement picture at Fox is complicated. The money is paid, but the legal battles are not over.

ES&S Voting Machine Lawsuit: The Case You Haven’t Heard Much About

Election Systems and Software, known as ES&S, is the largest voting machine company in the United States, yet it receives far less lawsuit coverage than Dominion or Smartmatic.

ES&S machines are used in jurisdictions across more than 40 states. Because of that reach, the company has faced a different kind of legal pressure than its competitors. Rather than defamation suits from media coverage, ES&S has been targeted by security researchers, state governments, and advocacy organizations challenging the reliability and auditability of its systems.

In 2019, a lawsuit in Georgia challenged the state’s use of ES&S touchscreen machines, arguing they lacked a paper audit trail. That case influenced Georgia’s decision to switch to a different system. Similar challenges have been filed in other states.

In 2026, ES&S faces renewed pressure from state legislatures that are demanding more transparency in voting system source code as a condition of continued certification. Several of those demands have triggered legal disputes.

What Is a Voting Machine Defamation Lawsuit?

A voting machine defamation lawsuit is a legal claim filed by a voting technology company against individuals or media organizations that made false statements damaging to the company’s reputation and business.

Defamation law requires proving four main elements: a false statement was made, the statement was published or broadcast to others, the defendant acted with at least negligence (and in the case of public figures, with “actual malice”), and the false statement caused real harm to the plaintiff.

The “actual malice” standard comes from the landmark 1964 Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan. It means the defendant either knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth or falsity.

Both Dominion and Smartmatic anchored their cases on the actual malice standard. Internal Fox News documents, obtained during discovery, became the most powerful evidence supporting their claims.

Bold Stat: Dominion reported losing contracts worth millions and losing nearly one-third of its U.S. workforce after the false claims spread in 2020 and 2021.

Key Takeaway: Voting machine defamation lawsuits succeed or fail on the “actual malice” standard. Evidence showing that defendants privately knew claims were false is the strongest possible proof in these cases.

The Voting Machine Fraud Lawsuit Claims: Fact vs. Fiction

Voting machine fraud lawsuits allege that specific machines manipulated, switched, or deleted votes during an election, but courts have consistently rejected these claims when examined under legal scrutiny.

After the 2020 presidential election, dozens of lawsuits were filed in multiple states alleging that voting machines from Dominion, Smartmatic, and other companies had been used to commit election fraud. Federal judges, state judges, and election officials reviewed these claims. Every single one was dismissed or withdrawn, often for lack of evidence.

Think of it this way: claiming a machine is rigged and proving it in court are two very different things. Allegations fly in press conferences and on social media. Courts require evidence.

What survived in court were not the fraud claims, but the defamation claims filed by the machine companies themselves. That is the legal irony at the center of this entire story.

Election Integrity Lawsuit 2026: New Cases on the Horizon

Election integrity lawsuits in 2026 are moving beyond the post-2020 defamation wave and into newer legal territory around certification standards, accessibility, and data security.

Several states are facing lawsuits over their voting machine certification processes. Advocacy groups argue that machines are being certified without adequate public review of their source code, security protocols, or audit capabilities. These cases argue that voters have a right to verify that the machines counting their votes are secure and accurate.

One significant case pending in 2026 involves a coalition of election integrity nonprofits challenging the federal Election Assistance Commission’s certification process for voting software. The lawsuit argues that EAC standards have not kept pace with modern cybersecurity requirements.

These newer cases don’t get the headlines that Dominion got. But they may have a more lasting impact on how elections are actually run.

Key Takeaway: The election integrity lawsuit wave of 2026 is less about defamation and more about structural reform, pushing courts and agencies to set new standards for machine certification and security transparency.

Explore this too: Shocking Entertainment Lawsuit 2026: Claims and Payouts

Voting Machine Security Lawsuit: The Cybersecurity Legal Track

Voting machine security lawsuits challenge whether specific machines meet basic cybersecurity standards required for use in public elections.

These cases are brought by security researchers, state attorneys general, or advocacy organizations. They typically argue that voting machines contain known software vulnerabilities, lack basic encryption standards, or fail to produce verifiable paper audit trails.

In 2021, a landmark report from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) identified specific vulnerabilities in certain voting system components. That report became the foundation for several lawsuits filed in 2022 and 2023 that are still working through courts in 2026.

Security-based lawsuits don’t seek defamation damages. They seek injunctions: court orders that force states to decertify certain machines or require upgrades before the next election cycle.

The practical impact is significant. A successful security lawsuit can remove a machine from use in an entire state before the next election.

Electronic Voting Machine Legal Challenges: Courts vs. Technology

Electronic voting machine legal challenges put courts in the uncomfortable position of evaluating technology they often don’t fully understand.

Federal and state judges have had to grapple with questions about software architecture, cryptographic protocols, and audit trail design. Many courts have appointed independent technical experts to help evaluate competing claims. This has slowed cases significantly but has also produced more technically credible outcomes.

One recurring legal argument is that electronic voting machines violate voters’ due process rights because their operation is opaque. If a voter cannot verify that their vote was counted correctly, the argument goes, their constitutional right to vote has been infringed.

Courts have generally rejected this argument when no specific evidence of error is presented. But several cases in 2026 are testing whether the burden should shift to the state to prove its machines work correctly, rather than requiring voters to prove they don’t.

This is genuinely unsettled law. The outcomes of 2026 cases will matter for every election held after them.

Election Software Lawsuit: When Code Becomes a Courtroom Argument

An election software lawsuit treats the programming code inside voting machines as legally significant evidence of fraud, negligence, or design defect.

These cases are among the most technically complex in American courts. Plaintiffs typically hire cybersecurity experts who review machine code and identify vulnerabilities or irregularities. Defendants bring their own experts who argue the machines performed correctly.

The legal theories vary. Some election software lawsuits are filed as product liability cases, arguing the software was defectively designed. Others are filed as negligence cases, arguing the manufacturer failed to apply standard security practices. A smaller number are filed under state consumer protection laws.

Bold Fact: In 2023, a Georgia federal court ordered the first-ever court-supervised forensic examination of Dominion ImageCast X machines in Antrim County, Michigan. That examination found no evidence of vote manipulation but revealed several security design weaknesses that have since been cited in other lawsuits.

Key Takeaway: Election software lawsuits are technically complex cases where the outcome depends heavily on expert testimony about code quality and security standards, fields where courts are still developing their expertise.

Election Machine Lawsuit Settlement: What Has Been Paid Out?

Election machine lawsuit settlements have totaled well over $800 million since 2020, with the Fox News-Dominion deal representing the vast majority of that figure.

Most major defamation settlements in this space have included confidentiality provisions around specific terms. What is publicly known comes from court filings, press releases, and post-settlement disclosures required under securities regulations for publicly traded defendants.

Dominion’s settlement with Fox News at $787.5 million is the anchor figure. Several other defendants in Dominion’s cases settled for undisclosed amounts. The Giuliani case is more complex because his personal bankruptcy filing complicates collection of the $148 million default judgment entered against him.

The Smartmatic case against Fox, if it goes to trial and results in a verdict, could push total election machine lawsuit payouts well past $1 billion.

Voting Machine Lawsuit Timeline 2026: Key Dates to Watch

The voting machine lawsuit timeline in 2026 includes several critical court dates that could change the legal landscape before the next major election cycle.

Tracking these dates matters because court outcomes in 2026 will directly affect which machines are certified for use in 2026 midterm and future presidential elections. A single ruling can trigger decertification proceedings in multiple states simultaneously.

These timelines are subject to court scheduling and procedural delays. But 2026 is shaping up to be the most legally active year for voting machine litigation since 2021.

Bold Stat: At least 14 separate lawsuits touching voting machine issues are active in U.S. courts as of early 2026, spanning federal and state jurisdictions.

Voting Machine Lawsuit Payout: Who Got Money and How Much?

Voting machine lawsuit payouts have so far flowed almost entirely to the companies that were defamed, not to individual voters or taxpayers.

The core payout story is Dominion’s $787.5 million from Fox News. That money went to the corporation. It did not create a consumer fund or class action settlement pool for affected voters to tap into. The same is true for every other defamation settlement in this space.

Individual voters have generally been unable to collect damages from voting machine lawsuits. Courts have held that diffuse injury to democratic processes does not translate into a specific personal injury that can support an individual damage claim.

This is an important distinction. If you are a voter wondering whether you can claim money from these cases, the honest answer right now is no, unless a new class action targeting a different legal theory succeeds.

Key Takeaway: Voting machine lawsuit payouts in 2026 have benefited the machine companies themselves, not individual voters. No class action fund for voters currently exists from these cases.

This may also interest you — DUI Defense Lawsuit: Full 2026 Guide for All 50 States

Who Can File a Voting Machine Lawsuit?

Who can file a voting machine lawsuit depends entirely on what type of case is being filed and what legal injury the plaintiff can show.

Voting machine companies like Dominion and Smartmatic can file defamation suits when false claims damage their business. They have standing because they can show specific financial harm: lost contracts, employee departures, and reputational damage that reduces future business.

State governments and election administrators can file lawsuits against vendors for breach of contract, failure to meet certification standards, or security deficiencies discovered after deployment.

Individual voters face the hardest path. To file any lawsuit, you need “standing,” which means a specific, concrete injury tied to your personal situation. A general claim that you are upset about election integrity is not enough. Courts have consistently dismissed such claims.

Something similar worth reading: Reed-Nelson Lawsuit 2026: Settlement and Payout Guide

The standing doctrine is the biggest barrier for individual voters. Without a specific, provable personal injury tied directly to a machine’s failure, courts will not accept the case.

Voting Machine Lawsuit Update 2026: What to Expect This Year

The voting machine lawsuit update for 2026 points to a year of major decisions, with the Smartmatic trial against Fox News as the headline event.

If the Smartmatic case goes to trial as scheduled, it will be the first full defamation trial over 2020 election fraud claims to reach a jury verdict. Unlike the Dominion case, which settled before opening statements were delivered, a Smartmatic trial would force Fox to defend its editorial decisions publicly, under oath, in front of a jury.

Beyond that flagship case, 2026 brings several other developments worth watching. State legislatures in at least six states are considering or have already passed laws requiring open-source voting software or mandatory paper backups, and several of those laws face legal challenges from machine vendors.

The broader theme of 2026 is accountability. Courts are being asked to decide not just who said what, but how election technology should be regulated, disclosed, and tested going forward.

Bold Fact: A Smartmatic trial verdict against Fox News could set a legal standard that would expose other media companies to similar claims for election-related broadcasts, fundamentally changing how cable news covers elections.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the current status of the Dominion voting machine lawsuit in 2026?

The primary Dominion case against Fox News settled in April 2023 for $787.5 million.

Dominion’s case against Mike Lindell is still active and expected to reach trial in 2026.

Several smaller related cases remain in various stages of litigation.

How much money did Dominion get from Fox News in the voting machine defamation case?

Dominion received $787.5 million from Fox News in a settlement reached in April 2023.

The settlement included no public admission of wrongdoing from Fox News.

It remains one of the largest defamation settlements in American media history.

Is the Smartmatic lawsuit still going in 2026?

Yes, the Smartmatic lawsuit against Fox News is still active as of 2026.

Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages and has pursued the case toward trial rather than settlement.

A trial is expected in the second half of 2026 if no settlement is reached first.

Can a regular voter sue a voting machine company?

Individual voters face extreme difficulty filing a successful lawsuit against a voting machine company.

Courts require “standing,” meaning a specific personal injury tied directly to the machine’s malfunction.

A general dissatisfaction with election results or machine trustworthiness does not meet the legal threshold.

What is the difference between a voting machine fraud lawsuit and a defamation lawsuit?

A voting machine fraud lawsuit alleges that machines actually manipulated election results, a claim courts have consistently dismissed for lack of evidence.

A defamation lawsuit is filed by the machine company against people who made false statements about those machines, damaging the company’s reputation and business.

The fraud lawsuits largely failed in court; the defamation lawsuits have produced hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and judgments.

What This All Means Heading Into 2026

The voting machine lawsuit story is not over. The Smartmatic trial alone could produce a verdict that reshapes media law for a generation.

Check whether you live in a state with pending certification challenges or open-source legislation. Those cases affect which machines count your votes in the next election.

If new class action lawsuits emerge that open a path for individual voter claims, the facts reported here will help you understand whether you qualify and what to watch for.

This is also helpful — ICE Detention Work Program Lawsuit: Full Guide 2026

Before you go further, consider reading Celsius Lawsuit 2026: Who Qualifies and What You Get Back

Along the same lines: Live Olympics Lawsuit 2026: Settlement and Filing Update

Never Miss a Lawsuit Update

Mark Lawfold as a Preferred Source so you never miss a settlement deadline or new filing.