The procurement of election scanners for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has raised serious concerns after it was revealed that the equipment was purchased from Smartmatic, a company currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The project, financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed to introduce digital voting technology in BiH, but is now facing scrutiny over transparency and credibility concerns.
Smartmatic gained international notoriety following the 2020 U.S. presidential election when supporters of then-President Donald Trump accused the company of vote manipulation. The ongoing legal troubles of Smartmatic have only intensified skepticism regarding the fairness and integrity of electoral processes that utilize its technology.
According to reports by Večernji List, critics of USAID are increasingly questioning the transparency of Smartmatic’s equipment, raising alarms over potential abuse, corruption, and election manipulation. The publication underscores the historical controversies surrounding Smartmatic’s technology and warns that public confidence in BiH’s electoral system is at serious risk.
In August 2023, USAID announced a $500,000 investment in modernizing BiH’s election process with the goal of fully implementing digital voting technologies by the 2026 general elections. The contract was awarded to Smartmatic, and as part of the project, optical scanners were acquired and tested at 145 polling stations to facilitate faster and more accurate vote counting.
However, the initiative is now under threat due to widespread concerns over USAID’s role and the broader implications of using Smartmatic’s technology. Večernji List notes that the issue has led to broken trust, both in the U.S. and internationally, casting doubt on the project’s future viability.
Adding to the controversy, former U.S. Attorney Sidney Powell recently shared a post on X (formerly Twitter), recalling corruption allegations linked to Smartmatic. She highlighted a case in the Philippines where government officials allegedly received bribes in exchange for selecting Smartmatic’s devices for election processes.
The U.S. Department of Justice has since indicted three high-ranking Smartmatic officials in connection with this corruption scandal. Allegedly, millions of dollars in bribes were funneled to secure lucrative contracts for election equipment procurement in the Philippines, further tarnishing the company’s reputation.
Given these serious allegations, BiH authorities now face mounting pressure to reconsider the deployment of Smartmatic’s technology. As debates over election integrity continue, the controversy surrounding Smartmatic could have profound implications for the future of democratic processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Source: Srna