Myanmar does not use Dominion Voting Systems

CLAIM: Myanmar used the election technology firm Dominion Voting Systems for its recent elections.  

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Dominion has never done business in Myanmar, according to Tony Fratto, a partner with the public relations firm Hamilton Place Strategies who spoke to The Associated Press on behalf of Dominion.

THE FACTS: On Monday, Myanmar’s military seized power in a carefully orchestrated coup, leaving the Southeast Asian country under military control while the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians have been detained. 

The military said the coup was necessary because the government had not acted on its unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the November elections, in which Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide.

Meanwhile, social media users falsely linked the situation to baseless claims of election fraud from the United States. 

“Myanmar used Dominion Voting Systems,” read a Facebook post on Monday shared hundreds of times. 

“Well, well, well: Soros-Dominion machines were used in Myanmar to steal the election for The Lady,” another post read.

Since the U.S. election in November, Dominion Voting Systems has been a frequent target of former President Donald Trump and his supporters, who claim the election was rigged despite there being no evidence of widespread fraud.

The AP has debunked a range of bogus claims about Dominion manipulating votes or having ties to prominent Democrats in the United States.  

Any claims about Dominion in Myanmar’s elections are also false, because the company has no relationship with Myanmar whatsoever, Fratto confirmed to the AP.

“No machines in Myanmar, no business in Myanmar,” Fratto said in a phone interview.

In fact, voters used only paper ballots to vote in Myanmar’s general elections, according to a 2020 report funded by the European Union. The 28-page report, which detailed the country’s election process, did not mention Dominion or any other electronic voting system.

An AP photographer who voted in the Myanmar election confirmed the voting process was entirely manual. AP video of voters casting their ballots and poll workers counting ballots shows no machines were involved.

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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

Here’s more information on Facebook’s fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536