{"id":2631259,"date":"2026-07-17T16:16:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T16:26:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:26:04","slug":"cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"CIA Report: Venezuela &#8216;Could Have&#8217; Used Voting Machines To Rig Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2631259&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A declassified CIA report reveals that Venezuela\u2019s government \u201ccould have\u201d utilized voting machines, including Smartmatic technology, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-deepfake-election-how-ai-and-fake-content-could-influence-2024-us-contests\/\" title=\"AI and fake content may sway the 2024 US ...s.\">manipulate election outcomes<\/a> between 2004 and 2020. The report indicates that Venezuelan officials showed interest and likely had some capability in election manipulation, although assessments of the 2012 presidential election concluded there was no evidence of fraud. Historically, there were reports suggesting Chavez\u2019s intelligence services collaborated wiht the electoral council and Smartmatic to preprogram voting machines in favor of Chavez, who allegedly congratulated his team after successful manipulation. despite these suspicions, official CIA evaluations maintained that no fraud occurred in that election, partly as the opposition conceded and polls favored Chavez. Post-2020, claims circulated-some dismissed as conspiratorial-that Smartmatic systems were designed to alter votes undetectably. Smartmatic has faced lawsuits and indictments related to electoral system controversies and alleged corruption activities in different countries, including the Philippines. The article is written by Brianna Lyman, an elections correspondent.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:COMELEC_Smartmatic_VCM_Demo_SM_Marikina_subo_%28Marcos_Highway,_Marikina;_04-22-2022%29.jpg\">Patrickroque01\/Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\">CC By-SA 4.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=CIA Report: Venezuela \u2018Could Have\u2019 Used Voting Machines To Rig Elections&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=CIA Report: Venezuela \u2018Could Have\u2019 Used Voting Machines To Rig Elections&#038;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=CIA Report: Venezuela \u2018Could Have\u2019 Used Voting Machines To Rig Elections&#038;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/07\/17\/cia-report-venezuela-could-have-used-voting-machines-to-rig-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\">                     <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); pfTrackEvent(&#039;CIA Report: Venezuela \u2018Could Have\u2019 Used Voting Machines To Rig Elections&#039;); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &#038; Email\">                     <span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span>                     <\/a>                 <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div class=\"pf-content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A newly declassified CIA report says the Venezuelan government \u201ccould have\u201d used voting machines to rig elections. President Donald Trump declassified a series of documents and reports related to election integrity on July 16, including a \u201cCIA Note\u201d entitled, \u201cSummary of Select Intelligence Reporting From 2004-2020 on Venezuela\u2019s Electronic Voting Manipulation Capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note says that between 2004 and 2020, \u201cintelligence established that Venezuelan government officials developed sustained interest and likely some capability in manipulating electronic voting systems, including Smartmatic technology, to influence electoral outcomes in Venezuela.\u201d The document says it was produced under the auspices of the CIA\u2019s deputy director of analysis and is dated June 29, 2026.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2686482368\" class=\"d-flex justify-content-center fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 fdrlst__b89e9-entity-placement\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The CIA produced a baseline assessment of Venezuela\u2019s 2012 presidential election that maintained mass electronic election fraud had not occurred. A 2013 CIA \u201cdevil\u2019s advocate\u201d analysis, the note says, provided \u201cplausible scenarios\u201d in which \u201clarge-scale electronic manipulation could have occurred in Venezuela\u2019s 2012 election without detection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note summarizes sources reporting that, prior to the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez\u2019s \u201cintelligence services \u2026 worked with the National Electoral Council and Smartmatic to develop plans to manipulate election results using preprogrammed voting machines.\u201d The source or sources of that reporting, however, are censored in the document released Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note includes claims that such plans included sending \u201caltered machines\u201d to roughly 300 voting centers in pro-Chavez areas \u201cto ensure victory by approximately 1.5 million votes.\u201d Chavez won that election by roughly 1.6 million votes, according to the note.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[S]ources reported that Chavez congratulated his team for successfully implementing the manipulation plan,\u201d the report continues. The \u201cdevil\u2019s advocate\u201d analysis found that elections in countries that \u201care clients of the technology provider could be in doubt.\u201d But the CIA assessed that such manipulation did not occur in the 2012 Venezuelan election, because the opposition party conceded loss, the CIA didn\u2019t confirm these possibilities were acted upon, and pre-election polls showed Chavez in the lead.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The note says U.S. intelligence reports indicated in April 2004 that Chavez \u201cstated his objective was to prevent the reelection of a sitting US president, suggesting intent to influence US domestic politics.\u201d The report also notes \u201cintelligence that Smartmatic directors held credentials from Venezuela intelligence services.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the 2020 election, Trump election lawyer Sidney Powell posted screenshots of an <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SidneyPowell1\/status\/1328495485007646720?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">affidavit<\/a> on X that alleged \u201cChavez was most insistent that Smartmatic design the system in a way that the system could change the vote of each voter without being detected.\u201d The New York Times did a lengthy report on this post, along with a few others, to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/11\/19\/technology\/sidney-powell-venezuela.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dismiss<\/a> the claim<strong>s<\/strong> as conspiratorial.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the 2020 election, Smartmatic <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/09\/dem-donor-who-funded-election-disinfo-lawfare-is-backing-lawsuit-to-silence-election-journalism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sued<\/a> both Fox News and Newsmax, alleging <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/legal\/government\/column-weve-solved-mystery-smartmatics-funding-27-bln-fox-case-2023-04-21\/#:~:text=\u201cSmartmatic%20does%20not%20have%20any,an%20email%20statement%20to%20me.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defamation<\/a> after both had commentators appear on the network who expressed concerns that the systems were vulnerable to interference and fraud. Newsmax settled with Smartmatic for $40 million, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/media\/newsmax-agreed-pay-smartmatic-40-million-settlement-voting-machine-rcna196359\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according<\/a> to NBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/missouri-man-charged-with-threatening-to-murder-2-us-congressmen\/\" title=\"Missouri Man Charged With Threatening to Murder 2 US Congressmen\">federal grand jury<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/09\/executives-of-voting-machine-firm-suing-to-silence-election-reporting-indicted-for-bribery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indicted<\/a> Smartmatic executives in 2024 for allegedly participating in a \u201cbribery and money laundering scheme.\u201d Nearly a year later, Smartmatic was <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/10\/17\/smartmatic-indicted-for-money-laundering-bribery-of-philippine-official\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">indicted<\/a> by a federal grand jury in Miami for allegedly bribing a Philippine official in relation to the 2016 Philippine national elections. <\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags no-print bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Donald Trump<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-security\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/smartmatic\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Smartmatic<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/venezuela\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Venezuela<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CIA report suggests Venezuela may have rigged elections with voting machines<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2631260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/COMELEC_Smartmatic_VCM_Demo_SM_Marikina_subo_Marcos_Highway_Marikina_04-22-2022-e1784296431133.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[64768,33929,33017,78989,35097],"class_list":["post-2631259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-cia-report","tag-election-rigging","tag-political-analysis","tag-venezuela-elections","tag-voting-machines"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/COMELEC_Smartmatic_VCM_Demo_SM_Marikina_subo_Marcos_Highway_Marikina_04-22-2022-e1784296431133.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2631259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2631272,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631259\/revisions\/2631272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2631260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2631259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2631259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2631259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}