The name "Dominion" used to just be some boring label on the back of a plastic voting machine. Most people didn't give it a second thought until 2020. Then, suddenly, it was everywhere. It was the center of a political hurricane. After years of lawsuits, massive settlements, and headlines that wouldn't quit, the company finally changed hands in a way that caught almost everyone off guard.
So, who bought Dominion Voting Systems?
In October 2025, a firm called Liberty Vote stepped in and acquired the company. It wasn't just a quiet business deal between two suits in a boardroom. It was a total rebrand and a pivot for a company that had spent nearly five years in legal survival mode.
The Man Behind Liberty Vote
The face of this new era is Scott Leiendecker.
He’s not some anonymous Wall Street private equity guy. Leiendecker is a former Republican election official from St. Louis. He’s also the founder of KNOWiNK, a company you might not know by name but likely use if you’ve voted recently. They make the electronic pollbooks that check you in at the precinct.
Leiendedcker basically wiped the Dominion name off the map. He explicitly stated, "As of today, Dominion is gone."
It’s a bold move.
When Liberty Vote took over, they didn't just buy the tech; they bought the baggage. Leiendecker has marketed the acquisition as a way to "rebuild trust from the ground up." He’s leaning heavily into the idea of "100% American-owned" technology. This is a direct nod to the (debunked) conspiracy theories that the company had ties to foreign governments like Venezuela.
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The Private Equity Era: Staple Street Capital
Before Liberty Vote entered the picture, the ownership structure was a lot more "corporate."
Back in 2018, a private equity firm called Staple Street Capital bought a 76% controlling interest in Dominion. They only paid about $38 million for it at the time. It seemed like a standard mid-market investment.
The rest of the pie was split up:
- John Poulos, the original co-founder and CEO, kept about 12%.
- PennantPark Investment and other minority stakeholders held the remaining bits.
For years, Poulos was the guy defending the company on 60 Minutes and in front of legislative committees. But honestly, the pressure was immense. By the time 2023 rolled around, Dominion had secured a historic $787.5 million settlement from Fox News. They also reached deals with Newsmax and various individuals like Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell.
Despite the influx of settlement cash, the brand was toxic in half the country. Poulos himself admitted to Time magazine that the company was bleeding customers. It’s hard to sell a product when your name has become a political slur.
Why the Sale Happened Now
The timing of the 2025 sale to Liberty Vote wasn't accidental. With the 2026 midterms looming, election officials were getting twitchy.
States like Georgia, which has a contract with the company through 2029, needed a way to move past the noise. When Leiendecker bought the assets, he did something smart: he kept the support staff. He told state clerks that there wouldn't be massive overhauls or staff purges.
Basically, the tech stays the same for now, but the letterhead changes.
What This Means for Election Tech
You've probably heard the rumors about "secret software" or "flipping votes." None of that was ever proven in court—in fact, the opposite happened. Hand recounts in places like Georgia and Wisconsin consistently showed the machines were accurate.
But perception is reality in politics.
Liberty Vote is trying to bridge that gap by emphasizing "paper-based transparency." They are aligning themselves with recent executive orders that push for hand-marked paper ballots and ban things like QR codes for tabulation. It’s a bit of a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy. By adopting the language of the critics, they're trying to make the machines palatable to people who were told to distrust them.
The Financial Details
While the exact price tag for the 2025 acquisition hasn't been blasted on every billboard, we know a few things:
- Leiendecker reportedly financed the deal privately.
- The deal included all of Dominion's intellectual property and existing contracts.
- The headquarters effectively shifted focus toward the St. Louis-based operations of Liberty Vote.
It’s a massive consolidation. By combining the most popular electronic pollbook (KNOWiNK) with one of the "Big Three" voting machine manufacturers, Leiendecker has created a powerhouse.
Looking Ahead to 2026 and Beyond
If you live in a state that used Dominion, you’ll likely see the "Liberty Vote" logo soon.
The hardware is largely the same—the ImageCast scanners and the X-series tablets. The difference is the leadership. Some see this as a necessary cleansing of a tarnished brand. Others are wary of a former partisan official owning the keys to the kingdom.
The reality? Most election officials just want the machines to work and the phone calls to stop.
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Next Steps for Informed Citizens
- Check your local vendor: Visit your Secretary of State’s website to see if your county uses Liberty Vote (formerly Dominion) or a competitor like ES&S or Hart InterCivic.
- Understand the Paper Trail: Almost every modern system, including those from Liberty Vote, produces a paper ballot. In 2026, ensure you verify your printed summary before feeding it into the scanner.
- Monitor Contract Renewals: Major states like Georgia will be looking at their contracts again in 2029. Public hearings for these contracts are often the best place to see the technology demonstrated in person.
Ownership has changed, but the scrutiny isn't going anywhere. Whether the rebrand to Liberty Vote actually restores "trust" or just changes the name on the lawsuit remains to be seen.