Dominion Voting Systems Has a New Name

Dominion Voting Systems, the company thrust into the national spotlight amid baseless 2020 election fraud claims, has quietly changed hands—and is getting a new name. The private Canadian firm has been bought by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican elections chief in St. Louis and founder of electronic poll book giant KNOWiNK, reports the Hill. The newly rechristened Liberty Vote is now fully American-owned. Leiendecker, who financed the deal himself, will run Liberty Vote as a distinct entity from KNOWiNK, with their technology together reaching more than 40 states. KNOWiNK, for its part, is a respected, nonpartisan entity that seemed to stay away from conspiracy theories around the 2020 election, reports the AP.

Financial details of the sale are under wraps. In 2018, private equity group Staple Street Capital picked up a 75% stake in Dominion for $38 million, per the Hill. Dominion's last few years have been anything but dull, with the company securing headline-grabbing settlements in defamation suits tied to 2020 election conspiracy theories—including $787 million from Fox News and $67 million from Newsmax, plus an undisclosed sum from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. States and other localities will now have to make the decision as to whether to use Liberty Vote's equipment in upcoming elections, per Axios.

The incoming owner brings 25 years of experience and says his goal is to restore confidence in US elections, with an emphasis on systems using hand-marked paper ballots, per the Hill. Liberty Vote says it will focus on transparent, secure, and simple technology; commit to US-based staff and software; and comply with a Trump executive order promoting paper ballots. "Liberty Vote signals a new chapter for American elections—one where trust is rebuilt from the ground up," Leiendecker said in a statement, promising robust auditing and easy-to-understand systems aimed at reassuring voters that every vote is accurately counted.