Dominion Voting Systems, the election technology company falsely accused by President Donald Trump and his allies of rigging the 2020 election, has been acquired by a firm led by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican elections official, the companies announced Thursday.
The newly formed company, Liberty Vote, will replace Dominion’s brand and said it plans to follow Trump’s executive order from last spring that sought sweeping election policy changes — a directive that federal judges have blocked as unconstitutional.
Why It Matters
The sale marks a dramatic shift for one of the most scrutinized companies in American politics. Dominion became the target of years of baseless conspiracy theories from Trump and his supporters, who falsely claimed its voting machines switched votes in the 2020 election. Those claims fueled violent threats against election workers and multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuits that reshaped the media landscape.
Liberty Vote’s pledge to align with Trump’s executive order raises new questions about political influence in the election technology industry. The company says it will emphasize “paper-based transparency.”
What To Know
The deal was announced by KNOWiNK, a St. Louis-based provider of electronic poll books used to verify voter information at polling places. KNOWiNK’s owner, Scott Leiendecker, a former St. Louis elections director, will now head Liberty Vote. The company’s statement emphasized it would be “100% American-owned,” a line seemingly aimed at debunked claims that Dominion was tied to the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez.
The terms of the sale were not disclosed, though a company spokesperson said Leiendecker personally financed the purchase. Both companies are privately held.
Leiendecker pledged to provide “election technology that prioritizes paper-based transparency.” Dominion’s former CEO, John Poulos, confirmed the sale in a short statement: “Liberty Vote has acquired Dominion Voting Systems.”
Liberty Vote also said it would reintroduce “hand-marked paper ballots” and adhere to Trump’s election order, even though that order remains blocked. The directive sought to ban voting systems that print ballots with barcodes or QR codes — a practice currently used in hundreds of counties across 19 states.
Dominion, based in Denver, was at the center of false claims about Trump’s 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. The company’s defamation lawsuits led to record settlements, including $787 million from Fox News in 2023 and $67 million from Newsmax this year.
Dominion recently reached undisclosed settlement agreements with conservative outlet, One America News (OAN), along with Trump allies Sidney Powell, and Rudy Giuliani. The company has not publicly explained why it chose to resolve those cases recently.
As of Thursday, Dominion still has active defamation lawsuits against MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, both prominent promoters of false 2020 election claims who deny any wrongdoing.
Despite widespread debunking of the conspiracy theories, Trump has continued to repeat them. He recently vowed to “get rid of voting machines” altogether, though the Constitution grants states and Congress — not the president — authority over election systems.
What People Are Saying
David Becker, who runs the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, told CNN, “This announcement raises a lot of questions, questions that I’m sure a lot of states with current Dominion contracts are going to want answers to.”
Leiendecker said in a statement, “Liberty Vote is committed to delivering election technology that prioritizes paper-based transparency, security, and simplicity so that voters can be assured that every ballot is filled-in accurately and fairly counted.”
What Happens Next
Liberty Vote’s announcement that it will follow Trump’s blocked executive order could complicate its business relationships in Democratic-led states that still use Dominion’s equipment. Voting machine companies have historically avoided overt political alignments to maintain trust across partisan lines.
This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.