Voting machines manufacturer on Trump conspiracy theory: ‘It’s not physically possible’

Dominion Voting Systems is encouraging its employees to work remotely to protect them from harassment

A touch screen voting machine on display in Georgia (Reuters)

A leading US company manufacturing voting machines has said it is “not physically possible” for their machines to switch votes from one candidate to another, even as the Trump campaign continues to make broad allegations of voter fraud.  

“This is a nonpartisan American company. It is not physically possible for our machines to switch votes from one candidate to the other. Let's be very clear, our election system is run by local elected officials and nonpartisan poll watchers. We simply provide a tool to count the ballots and to print and count ballots,” said Michael Steel of Dominion Voting Systems which supplies election technology to US, Canada and several other countries.  

Mr Steel told Fox News said there is no way “such a massive fraud could have taken place” and there are “no connections between our company and Venezuela, Germany, Barcelona, Kathmandu, whatever the latest conspiracy theory is.”

Democrat Joe Biden has already been projected as the winner of the 2020 US election with 306 votes compared to 232 for Donald Trump, who has nonetheless refused to concede. Instead, the incumbent’s legal team is challenging the results in several states, so far with no success.  

The president and his associates have been claiming fraud in the elections included voting machines switching ballots cast for Mr Trump to Mr Biden, and the president’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani claimed that the Dominion voting systems had ties to Venezuela. The campaign has failed to provide any evidence to back their claims.

Mr Steel emphasised that when someone votes on a Dominion machine, "they fill out their ballot on the touchscreen, they are given a printed copy which they then give to a local election official for safekeeping.”

“If any electronic interference had taken place, the tally reported electronically would not match the printed ballots," added Mr Steel. 

“And in every case where we've looked at in Georgia, all across the country, the printed ballots, the gold standard in election security, has matched the electronic tally.”

Dominion Voting Systems has put up a detailed page entitled “Setting the Record Straight” on its website to dispel rumours including “supercomputer election fraud”. The company states that it is not shuttering its offices but employees have been encouraged to “work remotely and protect their social media profiles due to persistent harassment and threats against personal safety.”