The complaint, which arose out of Fox News’s promotion of vote-rigging conspiracy theories after the 2020 U.S. presidential election, is on track to proceed to trial.

In 2023, Fox settled a similar lawsuit filed by another election systems company, Dominion Voting Systems, for $787.5 million. Before the settlement, Fox had sought to exclude Rupert Murdoch from testifying in person at a trial, but the Delaware judge rejected that request.

In its initial 2024 complaint, Smartmatic accused Fox News of making “over 100 false statements and implications” about the company. Judges wrote this week that Smartmatic's claims that Fox News ran “a disinformation campaign in [its] post-election coverage” were enough to warrant a trial.