‼️ HOLY !$!!@#! ⁉️
Did someone from the US government take part in the recent overthrow of the Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK), aka South Korea?!?!?
I now have a new Person of Interest: Paul DeGregorio.
Public records place Paul S. DeGregorio in the international election-administration and election-technology network that includes A-WEB (Seoul-based), IFES (International Foundation for Electoral Systems, a U.S.-based nonprofit that provides technical assistance on elections and related democratic processes.), the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, USAID-funded democracy assistance, and Smartmatic. That network proximity is why he is a person of interest for anyone examining how electronic and automated election tools were promoted around A-WEB and South Korea.
Documented:
A-WEB senior adviser (reported 2014–2018); Smartmatic USA director (October 2018–March 2025); public advocacy that election technology, including in South Korea, can increase trust; IFES technical work in many countries; EAC role in U.S. voting-system guidelines and certification architecture; 2014 A-WEB MOUs with USAID, IFES, NDI, IRI, and Democracy International.
Rough timeline (public sources; best effort)
1977–1981 — Assistant to Missouri Attorney General John Ashcroft.
1982–1985 — Special assistant to a regional administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration. Earlier White House-era work as a special assistant in the Reagan administration is also cited in official bios.
1985–1993 — Director of Elections, St. Louis County, Missouri. Computerized and professionalized a large U.S. local election office.
1986 onward — Member, IACREOT; later chaired its Education and Training Committee; credited with a University of Missouri certificate program for election officials.
1993–2001 — IFES election-administration expert/consultant. IFES is a major USAID-funded implementer. Bios state technical work in more than 20 countries (examples in contemporaneous reporting: Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Romania, Albania, China, Cambodia). Self-described 1997 IFES pre-election assessment in Slovakia; 1999 return as a speaker.
1993–2001 (overlapping) — Director of Outreach Development, University of Missouri–St. Louis.
From about 1996 — Career listings describe ongoing OSCE/ODIHR election-expert/consultant work into the 2010s.
2001–2002 — Co-chair, Missouri Election Reform Commission.
2001–12 to 2003-12 — Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, IFES (Washington). IFES then employed hundreds of people across many country programs, substantially financed by USAID and other donors.
2003-10-03 — Nominated by President George W. Bush to the new U.S. Election Assistance Commission (recommended by House Speaker Dennis Hastert). Senate-confirmed.
2003-12 to 2007-03 — EAC commissioner; vice chair 2005; chair 2006. Oversaw early Help America Vote Act implementation, review of state reform plans, distribution of roughly $2.3 billion in federal election-reform funds, first Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, and the start of federal voting-system testing/certification. 2004: National Association of Secretaries of State Freedom Award.
2005 — Represented the United States at an OSCE meeting in Vienna (his own later account).
2007-05 — OSCE/ODIHR election assessment mission to Ireland; observed the count in County Wicklow with Nikolai Vulchanov.
2007-06 to 2014-01 (approx.) — Joins Everyone Counts, Inc. (Australian-founded internet/remote voting firm, later San Diego HQ) as COO / Chief of Elections / President of Elections. Promotes online and telephone voting for remote and disabled voters. September 2011: speaks in Slovakia as Everyone Counts “President of Elections.”
2009-05-20 — Leads a four-member OSCE/ODIHR expert group in Slovenia on European Parliament elections. Other members listed by Slovenia’s Court of Audit: Iuri Ciocan (Moldova CEC), Alexander Shlyk (then identified as a Belarusian political scientist), Anthoula Malkopoulou (Greece). This is a documented DeGregorio–Shlyk working contact inside ODIHR.
2013-10-14 — A-WEB inaugurated in Songdo, South Korea, at NEC initiative.
2014-02 to 2018-09 — Senior adviser, Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB). Confirmed in his November 2016 Governing author biography. A-WEB’s Secretariat is in Korea; NEC is the founding/host EMB.
2014-05 — A-WEB signs MOUs in Washington with USAID, IFES, Democracy International, NDI, and IRI (capacity building, standards, research, observation).
2014-05-30 to 2014-06-04 — Smartmatic exhibits electronic-voting products at an A-WEB election observation / Election Knowledge Fair in Seoul during Korea’s local elections. Named Smartmatic staff: Robert Dobler, Miguel Avila, Henry Slim. DeGregorio is not named in that release.
2014 onward (Korea, separate track) — Miru Systems becomes the principal public vendor for NEC vote-counting machines (Korean press: exclusive/long-running NEC contracts from about 2014). This is the domestic hardware track. Do not collapse it into Smartmatic or DeGregorio without a contract.
2015-02 to 2018-09 — Senior fellow, Democracy Fund; advises the Elections Program; Governing contributor (November 2016 piece on U.S. Election Day risk). Still describes himself as A-WEB senior adviser.
2016-04 — Smartmatic-hosted short video: “Paul DeGregorio – Technology deters election fraud.” Identified as former EAC chair. Script cites South Korea (and Haiti, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan) as places where technology advanced democracy and voter trust. Promotional statement, not a procurement record.
2016-04-12 — Seoul International Forum on Elections (A-WEB + NEC), Shilla Hotel. DeGregorio’s attendance is not established in published participant lists reviewed for this file. Flag as a check, not a fact.
2018-10-24 — Smartmatic announces a U.S. Board of Directors: Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger (chair), Robert Cook (executive director), Gracia Hillman (former EAC chair), Paul DeGregorio (former EAC chair). First meeting 26 October 2018, Washington. Mandate: guide U.S. sales of “secure technology.” Career listings: director October 2018–March 2025. Smartmatic later noted U.S. board members stepped down after serving beyond a five-year term (company note, March 2025).
2018–2024 — Smartmatic’s principal documented U.S. public-election work in this period is Los Angeles County (BMDs/related services; company says the LA system does not count, tabulate, or store votes). Separate from Korea. Smartmatic executives later faced U.S. bribery charges tied to Philippines contracts; that docket is a vendor-integrity lead, not a DeGregorio charging document.
Through 2025–2026 — Public bios still identify him as a former EAC chairman and (until the reported 2025 board wind-down) Smartmatic USA director. No located public record of a current NEC, A-WEB secretariat, or Miru executive title.
* I suggest vetting everything in here for accuracy, but this should be a very good start for those who would like to dig!
Bottom line for researchers: He is a high-value network node — U.S. chief election-assistance official, IFES operator in the USAID ecosystem, A-WEB adviser in Seoul’s EMB club, then Smartmatic USA director who publicly used South Korea as a technology success example.
@DrFrankModels @TheSCIF @pjcolbeck @DrTaraO @NewshamGrant @MorseHTan @ColonelRETJohn2, isn't this interesting?