In a significant shift for the voting technology landscape, Dominion Voting Systems has been acquired by a newly formed entity called Liberty Vote. The company announced the change Thursday in a press release that stated, “As of today, Dominion is gone,” confirming that Liberty Vote has assumed “full ownership and operational control.” Visitors to Dominion’s website are now redirected to libertyvote.com.<\/p>\n
The acquisition marks a turning point for Dominion, which became a lightning rod for controversy following the 2020 presidential election. Former President Donald Trump and his allies, including Rudy Giuliani, repeatedly made unfounded claims that Dominion’s voting machines were used to manipulate election results and divert votes away from Trump.<\/p>\n
These allegations had serious consequences. One Dominion executive was forced into hiding due to threats, and the company launched multiple defamation lawsuits against those spreading the false claims. Most prominently, Dominion won a landmark $787.5 million settlement from Fox News in one of the largest defamation settlements in media history. Giuliani also recently reached a confidential settlement with the company after facing a similar lawsuit.<\/p>\n
The timing of the acquisition comes against the backdrop of ongoing scrutiny of election systems. Earlier this year, an official from Trump’s Justice Department contacted county clerks in Missouri requesting inspections of Dominion voting equipment used in the 2020 election, highlighting continued interest in revisiting the election results despite numerous audits and court cases that found no evidence of widespread fraud.<\/p>\n
Liberty Vote’s announcement includes language that appears to align with conservative priorities regarding elections. The company described the acquisition as “a bold and historic move to transform and improve election integrity in America.” The phrase “election integrity” has become a rallying cry among conservatives in recent years as they have pushed for various voting restrictions and changes to election administration.<\/p>\n
The new company also emphasized its commitment to “[leveraging] hand-marked paper ballots enabling compliance with President Trump’s executive order, and ensuring election security and compliance with federal standards.” This appears to reference an executive order Trump issued in March regarding voting systems, though multiple federal judges have since blocked major portions of that order.<\/p>\n
While Liberty Vote highlights hand-marked paper ballots as a priority, it’s worth noting that this method of voting is already predominant across the United States. The vast majority of American voters currently cast ballots using paper-based voting systems, which election security experts broadly consider more secure and verifiable than electronic-only systems.<\/p>\n
Scott Leiendecker, the founder of Liberty Vote, brings significant experience in election administration to the new venture. He previously served as a Republican election director in St. Louis and later founded an election technology company that has been widely adopted by election officials across the country.<\/p>\n
The acquisition comes at a critical moment for election technology providers, as the United States approaches the 2024 presidential election amid continued debate about election security and integrity. How this ownership change might affect the operations of what was formerly Dominion, or public perception of the voting systems, remains to be seen as Liberty Vote establishes its presence in the election technology marketplace.<\/p>\n
The transaction’s financial details were not disclosed in the announcement, nor was information about whether the company’s voting systems would undergo significant technological changes under the new ownership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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