Dominion Voting Systems, once a relatively obscure name in the world of election technology, has found itself at the center of a new chapter in the ongoing debate over American election integrity. On October 18, 2025, Scott Leiendecker, a veteran in the election technology field, announced his acquisition of Dominion and unveiled a new company, Liberty Vote, signaling what some have called a transformation—though just how much will actually change remains a matter of debate.
In a public letter posted on Liberty Vote’s website, Leiendecker struck a dramatic tone: “As of today, Dominion is gone,” he declared, adding, “We are turning the page and beginning the vital work of restoring faith in American elections.” The statement seemed to many to lean directly into the swirl of conspiracy theories and unfounded rumors that have dogged Dominion since the 2020 presidential election, leading to high-profile defamation lawsuits and settlements. According to NPR, the press release appeared to play to those who have long doubted the legitimacy of Dominion’s technology, while also promising a new era of transparency and trust.
But behind closed doors, the messaging to county election officials was strikingly different. In Georgia, where Dominion holds a statewide contract, Liberty Vote representatives reassured officials via email, “Feel assured that Liberty Vote shares the same values as Dominion. Same team, same support, different name.” The message, reviewed by NPR and BERITAJA, suggested that the rebranding was more cosmetic than structural.
This dual approach—publicly signaling dramatic change while privately promising continuity—has left many election officials and observers scratching their heads. In Colorado, where Dominion was headquartered and 60 of 64 counties use its systems, Boulder County clerk Molly Fitzpatrick spoke with Leiendecker soon after the announcement. According to her, Leiendecker “reiterated that he is an elections person and he has a long track record of being involved in elections.” Fitzpatrick emphasized that, from her perspective, “From a security and technical perspective, everything still stands. We still have multiple checks and balances to demonstrate and verify the integrity of the system. Everything that we have been saying for years is still the same.”
Leiendecker’s background is no small part of the story. Twenty years ago, he served as a Republican elections director in St. Louis before founding KNOWiNK in 2011. KNOWiNK has since become the largest U.S. vendor for voter check-in technology, a fact noted on Liberty Vote’s website but conspicuously absent from the press release. Instead, the release painted Leiendecker as a “nationally recognized election reform advocate,” perhaps to distance him from the partisan battles that have consumed much of the conversation around election technology in recent years.
Liberty Vote’s debut was also marked by a clear nod to conservative priorities. The press release highlighted the company’s “100% American ownership” and its mission to “restore public confidence in the electoral process through transparent, secure, and trustworthy voting systems, including the use of hand-marked paper ballots.” The company also pledged to comply with former President Trump’s March executive order on election security, though federal judges have largely paused its implementation. According to BERITAJA, this overtly partisan tone was unusual for an election technology vendor and raised eyebrows among experts.
David Becker, head of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, told NPR, “I thought the announcement was weird—I’ll be honest. That just raised a lot of questions on the part of election officials. They’re already under siege. There is already so much disinformation swirling about voting systems and their security… They don’t want drama around their voting systems.”
Some in the field see the public-private messaging split as a calculated rebrand, designed to win over conservative jurisdictions that have shunned Dominion for the past five years. As one unnamed state voting official told NPR, “[Leiendecker] sees an opportunity to sell Dominion to all the conservative jurisdictions who wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole the past five years. It’s all business for him.”
Not everyone was pleased with how the transition was handled. In Colorado, several county clerks expressed frustration at being kept in the dark. Tiffany Lee, the politically unaffiliated clerk of La Plata County, said, “There was no notification to us that this was even a conversation. That’s concerning to me that we didn’t get any kind of information from [Liberty Vote] directly or Dominion.” Lee also reported that the announcement, coupled with Leiendecker’s Republican background, led to a flood of questions from voters: “It was, ‘Is this a GOP takeover? Are elections going away? What’s happening?’ Probably one of the biggest questions I’ve overall gotten is, ‘Are we gonna continue to have elections?’”
Despite the furor, election officials have urged calm. The reality, they say, is that nothing about the equipment or procedures is changing in the short term. Voters whose ballots were tallied using Dominion technology in 2024 will have their votes counted on the same machines in the 2026 midterms. Colorado, like most of the country, relies on paper ballots and conducts risk-limiting audits after each election—double-checking machine tallies against the actual votes on paper. These audits and hand counts have repeatedly confirmed the accuracy of Colorado’s election results, even as the state has been a hotspot for false election claims.
Yet, the sale of Dominion to Liberty Vote may do little to persuade the most fervent conspiracy theorists. Conservative activist and podcaster Joe Oltmann, a prominent election denier based in Colorado, lambasted Leiendecker on Facebook after the announcement. “This guy is not a conservative... I truly hate what our country has become... it is literally a cartel that wear[s] different badges while stealing the voice in a sea of treason,” Oltmann wrote, reflecting the skepticism that persists on the far right.
For now, the future of Dominion—now Liberty Vote—remains uncertain. The new name may open doors in places where the old one was unwelcome, but the core technology, personnel, and procedures appear largely unchanged. Whether this rebranding will actually restore faith in American elections, as Leiendecker hopes, or simply add another wrinkle to an already complicated landscape, is a question that only time—and perhaps the next election—will answer.