Dominion Cease-and-Desist Campaign – Systemic Chilling of Election Integrity Speech and Litigation (US)

The law firm Clare Locke, LLP, transmitted more than 150 cease-and-desist letters nationally on behalf of Dominion Voting Systems, including more than 30 to Michigan citizens, targeting private individuals who had publicly cited evidence of election irregularities involving Dominion systems. It is reasonable to infer that this campaign had a chilling effect upon free speech and litigation in the wake of the 2020 election. This campaign extended beyond defamation deterrence to threatening litigation against private citizens for protected civic speech. The Dominion software contract (Michigan contract #071B7700117) contained a clause prohibiting analysis of the software “in whole or in part,” which was subsequently used as the basis for court-ordered redaction of forensic evidence and to prevent independent investigation.