In May 2024, Democracy International published solicitation RFP-SEI-2024-001, “Procurement and Piloting of Ballot Scanners for Direct Results Transmission in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” The RFP states that DI is acting on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development to implement the Support to Electoral Integrity Activity (SEI) under contract number 72016823C00001. It invites bids for optical ballot scanners with direct results transmission, for use by the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina in a pilot at the October 2024 municipal elections, in approximately 145 polling stations. Ceiling price: USD $425,000. Anticipated period of performance: June 15 – December 15, 2024. The award type anticipated is a firm, fixed-price subcontract. That is the RFP. It does not name Mark Malloch-Brown. It does not name Smartmatic.
USAspending lists definitive contract 72016823C00001 as a completed award to Democracy International, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, by USAID / USAID/Bosnia/Herz. Description: “Support to electoral integrity in BiH activity aims to improve the integrity of elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).” Potential award amount $5,560,392. Obligated amount $3,100,927. Period of performance 1 October 2023 – 11 February 2025. The award page shows 0 sub-awards. It does not name Smartmatic. It does not name Malloch-Brown. He did not receive this award.
USAspending and DataRepublican show no federal award to a Smartmatic-named recipient. The only Smartmatic-named recipient profile on USAspending is SMARTMATIC USA CORP: $0 total awarded amount from 0 transactions — a stub, not a paid award. This page does not say that USAspending paid Smartmatic. A keyword search of USAspending recipients for “SMARTMATIC” returns that one $0 profile. DataRepublican’s federal-award search is the same miss: no Smartmatic-named recipient award. SGO CORPORATION does not appear as a USAspending recipient on that search.
HigherGov’s contract listing for 72016823C00001 matches the same prime: Democracy International, awarded by the U.S. Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (USAID), worth up to $5,560,392. USAspending’s transaction history records modification P00002, action date 11 February 2025, amount $0, action type “Terminate for Convenience (Complete or Partial).” HigherGov also reports the contract was on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) termination list as of July 2025. The DOGE-list line is HigherGov’s reporting. It is not a doge.gov page this site fetched, and it is not a USAID PDF naming Smartmatic.
Reported — not a USAID.gov HTML page this site fetched, and not a USAspending extract naming Smartmatic as payee: Sarajevo Times, citing a USAID announcement / Fena line, reported that the United States was investing USD 500,000 to support the BiH Central Election Commission in a pilot of new electoral technologies for the October 2024 municipal elections; that the scanner was supplied by Smartmatic; that the 145 polling stations were in Vogošća, Tuzla, Visoko, Stolac, Novi Grad and Prijedor; that the work was part of a four-year $5.5 million USAID SEI project that began in October 2023; and that Courtney Chubb, director of the USAID Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said the United States was “committed to supporting free, fair and transparent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” The $500,000 figure and the Smartmatic supplier name stay on the Reported line. They are not treated here as a USAspending award to Smartmatic. This file does not have an award PDF naming Smartmatic as the subcontract recipient. The $425,000 RFP ceiling and the $500,000 Sarajevo Times figure are not the same document.
Malloch-Brown’s documented Smartmatic / SGO chair role is already on this file: Companies House director of SGO CORPORATION LIMITED, 29 September 2014 to 4 December 2020; SGO’s 25 November 2014 statement that the group was “built on” Smartmatic and that he would become chairman; SGO’s 4 December 2020 statement that he stepped down as Chairman the same day Open Society Foundations named him president. That is the 2014–2020 paper. This page is the later USAID–Bosnia money. He is not named in the Democracy International RFP. He is not the recipient on USAspending. This page does not say he received the grant or signed the subcontract. It does not say he owned Smartmatic. It does not say Smartmatic stole the 2020 U.S. election.