Liberty Vote’s Big Buy: What It Means for Colorado Voters and Why Questions Remain

By Colorado Institute for Fair Elections | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Imagine this: You’re heading to your local polling place in Colorado, ready to cast your vote on a crisp November morning. You scan your ID at a digital check-in station, mark your paper ballot, and feed it into a machine that tallies it up. Sounds straightforward, right?

But behind the scenes, the company running much of that tech—Dominion Voting Systems—just got bought out and rebranded as Liberty Vote. For everyday folks like you and me, this could affect how secure and trustworthy our elections feel. 

Announced on October 9, 2025, the deal promises a fresh, all-American start. But as we unpack it, some red flags pop up that make you wonder: Is this real change, or just a shiny new label on the same old box?

Let’s break it down simply. Dominion, based right here in Denver since 2009, makes the machines and software that help count votes in about half of U.S. states, including 60 out of Colorado’s 64 counties. They’ve been in the spotlight since 2020, when alleged false claims accused them of flipping votes (claims that led to big lawsuits, like the $787 million settlement with Fox News). Now, Scott Leiendecker—a former Republican election official from Missouri—has acquired them through his new company, Liberty Vote. 

He’s the sole owner, and he funded it privately (no price tag revealed). Leiendecker’s background? He ran elections in St. Louis for years, then started KnowInk in 2011, a St. Louis firm that makes “electronic poll books”—think iPad-like devices that check you in at the polls. KnowInk now serves 29 states and millions of voters, pulling in $55 million a year.

On the surface, it sounds promising. Liberty Vote vows to be “100% American-owned,” ditching any foreign software development (Dominion had ties to Canada and Serbia). They plan to push hand-marked paper ballots—like the ones most Coloradans already use—and add third-party audits to spot glitches. No more QR codes on ballots (almost all Colorado skipped those anyway), and a full review of old machines to fix or scrap them. 

Leiendecker says it’s about “rebuilding trust from the ground up,” aligning with ideas like President Trump’s push for paper ballots and voter ID. 

For skeptical voters tired of conspiracy chatter, this could quiet some noise—especially since Liberty Vote settled ongoing suits with Trump allies like Rudy Giuliani as part of the deal.

But here’s where it gets tricky, and why folks new to this might want to pause. While the pitch is all stars and stripes, digging into KnowInk reveals some eyebrow-raising connections that echo old worries about foreign meddling. KnowInk didn’t invent its tech from scratch; it bought up pieces from other companies, including Votem’s voter registration software. 

Votem got that from Konnech, a firm whose CEO faced charges in 2022 for storing U.S. election data on servers in China—accessible to Chinese nationals. (Konnech denied wrongdoing, but the case spotlighted risks of overseas data storage.) 

KnowInk also snapped up Election Administrators in 2016 and merged with BPro in 2020, inheriting cloud-based tools like Total Vote. These have been linked to oddities, like 75,000 backdated voter records in Hawaii after the 2020 election and weird registration jumps in New Mexico counties using Dominion-linked systems.

Leiendecker himself? No engineering degree or technical chops on his resume—just hands-on election experience.

KnowInk’s patents for things like “ballot validation” trace back to his short-lived companies, like Tally LLC (dissolved in 2021). And get this: KnowInk stores voter data on Amazon’s cloud, which is presumed ‘secure’ but still internet-connected—meaning potential hacks from anywhere. 

Critics point out St. Louis (KnowInk’s home) has sister-city ties to Wuhan, China, and local budgets once paid Konnech alongside KnowInk. 

Coincidence? Maybe. But in a world where election rumors spread like wildfire, it fuels doubts about whether one guy’s empire—now controlling gear in 27 states—centralizes too much power. What if a glitch (or worse) hits? 

Audits help, if done correctly, but experts say vulnerabilities don’t vanish with a name change. The fact remains that vulnerabilities may still exist if the software is never subjected to a rigorous forensic review by qualified cyber and software experts who can open up the black box to the light of day.

For us in Colorado, this hits home hard. Our clerks were caught off-guard, hearing the news from headlines, not a heads-up call. They hopped on a quick conference line with Leiendecker, who promised “business as usual.” 

Matt Crane, a former Republican clerk and head of the Colorado County Clerks Association, called him upfront but admitted the surprise stung. 

Rio Grande County yanked its contract over potential backlash, and Mesa County? That’s ground zero for distrust, where ex-clerk Tina Peters got jail time for sharing machine data she said exposed flaws.

Actions Leiendecker should take without delay

So, what can Leiendecker do to address some of these concerns here in Colorado and clear up our collective questions?  

For one, he can respond directly to this article by emailing [email protected].  

Secondly, as he did with our County Clerks Association, he can meet with independent election veracity groups such as the Colorado Institute for Fair Elections (COIFFE).  

Finally, if Liberty Vote’s goal, as stated in their public announcement, is to “restore public confidence in the electoral process through transparent, secure, and trustworthy voting systems” they should open up (make transparent) all software programs and election processes to outside audit by certified software security specialists and software engineers under the authority of the Colorado Office of the State Auditor.

A Call to Action for Voters

So, what should everyday voters do? Stay sharp: Ask your county clerk about Liberty Vote updates, push for more effective and impartial audits conducted by the Office of the State Auditor, get involved as a Canvas Board Member, Election Judge or Poll Watcher. And vote for locals who demand transparency. 

You can also volunteer to be a Citizen Dropbox Observer by emailing [email protected] 

As midterms gear up in 2026, this isn’t about panic—it’s about protecting what works while questioning what might not.

Bottom line: Liberty Vote could be the reset we need, making votes feel safer and simpler. 

But those lingering ties and one-man control? They remind us elections aren’t just tech—they’re trust. 

In the Rockies, where we value straight talk and self-reliance, let’s keep the conversation going. Your voice matters; make sure it’s heard loud and clear.

The Colorado Institute for Fair Elections (COIFFE) is a non-partisan volunteer group working to improve election integrity across Colorado. Its executive committee members include Bob Cooper, Marc Gitlitz, Bill Lehman, Mark Milliman, John Murino and John Graboski. They work with other volunteers to focus on cleaning up voter rolls and ensuring that only legal voters are participating in elections.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.