He floats the possibility of deploying
ElectionGuard in states holding pres-
idential caucuses, many of which al-
ready use a Microsoft program to re-
cord and track results. “We’ve got to
start early and move fast,” he says.
Smith’s sense of urgency comes
from experience. At 60, he is Micro-
soft’s longest-serving executive, the
institutional bridge between the
company’s current leadership and
its legendary co-founder Bill Gates.
His tenure as the company’s top
legal officer spans the software gi-
ant’s bruising antitrust battles with
the U.S. government two decades ago
and its resurgence as a cloud-com-
puting force, which this year helped
Microsoft vault past Apple and Am-
azon as the most valuable company
in the world. “He’s someone who’s
brent
(Brent)
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