Washington
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The new owner of Dominion Voting Systems affirmed in his first interview since shopping for the corporate that President Donald Trump misplaced the 2020 election and pledged that his firm’s machines, utilized by almost a 3rd of US voters, gained’t be misused to assist both political occasion.
Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican election official from St. Louis who already runs a separate election tech firm, bought Dominion final month and rebranded it Liberty Vote.
The shock transfer, and a public announcement that seemingly embraced elements of Trump’s push to rework voting procedures, spooked election officers across the US, elevating considerations about the way forward for an organization that unexpectedly discovered itself on the heart of Trump’s makes an attempt to overturn his 2020 election loss.
After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies publicly claimed, repeatedly and falsely, that Dominion software program flipped hundreds of thousands of his votes to Joe Biden. Some Trump allies additionally tried to breach Dominion machines, in hopes of proving Trump’s fraud allegations. Dominion filed defamation lawsuits in opposition to lots of the Trump attorneys and advisers who pushed these lies, and in opposition to the right-wing TV networks that gave them airtime. (Its case in opposition to Fox News famously settled for a historic $787 million in 2023.)
Since shopping for Dominion final month, Leiendecker has embarked on a goodwill tour of kinds, assembly with about 80% of Dominion clients, spanning about half the nation, and privately reassuring election directors with a flurry of in-person visits and video conferences.
“I’m an election person. I’m not on anybody’s side or anybody’s team. I’m on the American people’s side. I’m on democracy’s side,” Leiendecker instructed NCS in an unique and wide-ranging interview. “I want to make sure everybody knows I’m not siding with the left or the right. That’s important to me. That’s important to the process.”
Despite his previous work in Missouri GOP politics, Leiendecker mentioned he isn’t presently registered with any occasion, and “I am absolutely not an election denier.”
Democratic and Republican election officers, and nonpartisan specialists who advise them, protecting dozens of counties, instructed NCS that Leiendecker has largely allayed their considerations and confusion stemming from the abrupt rebrand. After many states with Dominion machines held profitable elections this month, a few of their worst fears have eased, largely because of what Leiendecker has mentioned in non-public conferences.
One main supply of consolation was Leiendecker’s promise to maintain present Dominion workers on the job, a number of election officers mentioned. This could possibly be problematic amongst hardcore election deniers who’ve referred to as for purges.
“Their message was, ‘It’s the same team, same group, same contacts,’” mentioned Zach Manifold, the nonpartisan elections supervisor for Gwinnett County, within the Atlanta suburbs. “That’s what I heard from Scott, too. One of the things he said to me was that the staff that was at Dominion were really great.”
Michigan officers had been equally instructed final month by the seller that companies their Dominion gear that they’ll be utilizing “the same proven product,” and to count on “no changes,” in response to an electronic mail obtained by NCS.
Trouble should lie forward.
Trump has a long history of leaning on perceived allies within the election area to do his bidding. Leiendecker might face strain from Trump or different election deniers in the administration to one way or the other use Dominion’s property to help their makes an attempt to alter election procedures.
Some on the appropriate have already criticized Leiendecker for not doing sufficient to assist Trump as Dominion’s new owner. Cleta Mitchell, who runs a nationwide community of GOP election activists, mentioned in an X post, “It is all a ruse. All of it,” complaining that the new owner hasn’t returned the $67 million settlement it acquired from Newsmax or invited GOP activists to audit its machines.
And there’s additionally now rising mistrust on the left. Last week, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, claimed with out proof that Leiendecker purchased Dominion to assist Trump “cheat, potentially, with the voting machines” within the 2026 midterms, and urged states to cease utilizing Dominion.
The announcement of Leiendecker’s buy of Dominion landed on October 9 with a press release peppered with MAGA-friendly phrases.
It touted utilization of “hand-marked paper ballots” (a Trump obsession). It inspired “third-party auditing” (made notorious from the GOP-backed Arizona snafu). And it highlighted its “100% American” possession (although Dominion wasn’t foreign-run).
It additionally promised “compliance with President Trump’s executive order” on elections. That order, which had already been partially blocked by a decide, featured Trump’s want record to drastically change US election guidelines, like ending most mail-in voting and requiring proof of citizenship earlier than registering.
Numerous that language set elections officers on edge.
“The owner’s comment about making sure people use paper ballots did give me pause,” mentioned Barb Byrum, the Democratic election clerk for Lansing, Michigan, who says she nonetheless hasn’t been contacted by Leiendecker or his new crew. “That is a typical election conspiracy theorist talking point. As someone who works in the election space, he should know that as well.”
Byrum, who’s working for the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s secretary of state race subsequent yr, mentioned liberal activists are commonly asking her at marketing campaign occasions to deal with their suspicions in regards to the Dominion sale.
David Becker, an elections expert who advises officers from each events, mentioned the rebrand “was incredibly clumsy, and unnecessarily raised questions about the partisanship of the new owners.” But the sale “doesn’t change anything” when it comes to precisely casting votes and reporting sincere outcomes.
“Folks on the left, who worry that MAGA now owns our elections, should not be worried,” Becker mentioned. “And folks on the right, who think this fixes everything because Dominion was changing outcomes of elections, they’re wrong too.”
An individual briefed on the matter instructed NCS that after the 2024 election, there was an “aura of uncertainty” at Dominion about the way forward for the enterprise. Years of lawsuits and disinformation took a toll on its leaders, paving the best way for a possible sale.
Dominion’s founder and CEO, John Poulos, already personally knew Leiendecker from their work within the comparatively small election gear trade, the individual mentioned. As negotiations over a sale started and intensified earlier this yr, “the circle around it was kept really small,” the individual mentioned.
“I don’t want to sound corny, but I felt like it was my calling, in a sense,” Leiendecker instructed NCS of his choice to purchase Dominion. “Somebody needed to do this. And I raised my hand to try to hopefully steer things in a direction where all voters can feel proud about what we do here in America.”
“I don’t know if it’s going to be possible, but I’m going to try,” he added.
Another individual briefed on the matter mentioned when the deal closed, Leiendecker anticipated to have extra time to craft the general public announcement. The individual mentioned: “They only gave him a few days; that’s why the rollout was so unartful.”
To assist with the rollout, Leiendecker labored with Logan Circle Group, a Trump-aligned public relations agency that vows to battle for “America First.”
It’s unclear whether or not the rollout was supposed to pander to Trump, to make the new Dominion extra palatable to Republican clients in conservative jurisdictions, or one thing else. But election officers who’ve labored intently with Leiendecker are prepared to vouch that he’s not a partisan actor.
“I’ve known this guy for 10 years, and I had no idea what his political party was,” mentioned Manifold, the Atlanta-area elections supervisor.
Election officers have borne the brunt of a yearslong assault in opposition to their work from Trump and his fellow 2020 election deniers. There have been report ranges of disinformation, public vitriol and even death threats.
The Dominion-related conspiracy theories had been a giant a part of that. So, naturally, that matter got here up in a lot of Leiendecker’s current sit-downs with election officers, a number of officers instructed NCS.
“I asked him point blank in our first meeting, where he’s at on the election, and if he believes 2020 was stolen,” mentioned Matt Crane, a Republican who runs the Colorado County Clerks Association. “He said he doesn’t think 2020 was stolen, and he’s here to support the community of election administrators.”
In Leiendecker’s interview with NCS, he shied away from immediately disavowing Trump’s mantra that the election was “rigged.” But he made clear that he does not have considerations in regards to the legitimacy of the 2020 election outcomes.
“I worked in Georgia. I witnessed all the recounts,” Leiendecker mentioned. “They all came back the same. We saw a winner and we saw a loser in that election.” (Multiple Republican-run recounts confirmed Biden’s victory within the state, which was certified by Georgia’s Republican governor.)
Leiendecker added: “I don’t really like to go back and talk about what happened in 2020. I’m kind of moving forward. I don’t want to relitigate the 2020 elections. We’re in 2025 now. I’m focused on 2026 and 2028.”
The election trade is small and — till 2020 — operated largely out of the general public eye. Professionals from each political events ran elections, reported outcomes, performed audits and labored with distributors, usually with out situation.
Earlier in his profession, Leiendecker was the highest Republican election official in St. Louis County. He later based KNOWiNK, an organization that pioneered utilizing iPads for electronic pollbooks, that are used to examine in voters and confirm their registration standing after they arrive at their polling place.
“Scott finds innovative solutions to issues,” mentioned Ben Borgmeyer, the Democratic co-director of the St. Louis County election board. “We use KNOWiNK products every day. They’re a partner we trust. Their Poll Pad is now ubiquitous across the face of US elections. Almost everyone uses it.”
Borgmeyer mentioned KNOWiNK helped him adapt throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Voters historically go to their very own precinct and vote on preprinted ballots that include their particular races. But throughout the pandemic, St. Louis and different cities opened larger “vote centers” the place any county resident might forged their vote. Borgmeyer mentioned they used new KNOWiNK know-how to print ballots “on demand” for particular person voters to make use of after they checked in.
“It made so much sense, on so many levels,” Borgmeyer mentioned. “They were trying to find solutions to make elections more efficient and accountable.”
Fears and dangers
Pollbooks aren’t concerned in casting or counting ballots. After shopping for Dominion, Leiendecker is now a serious participant in that a part of the method.
For the 2024 presidential election, greater than 63 million registered voters lived in jurisdictions that used Dominion machines or software program, in response to Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that tracks the gear in each jurisdiction. That was about 28% of registered voters nationwide that yr.
Still, trade insiders who spoke to NCS emphasised that even when Leiendecker wished to weaponize his new firm to spice up Trump, as some Democratic lawmakers and activists worry, there could be critical structural limitations.
“I don’t think a MAGA takeover is even possible,” a former senior Dominion official, who left years earlier than it was offered, instructed NCS. “Vendors don’t run elections. It’s run by county clerks and secretaries of state. Vendors only supply the equipment. They have no influence over the election results.”
There are additionally monetary the reason why this wouldn’t be a sensible transfer. It would alienate clients in Democratic jurisdictions. And embracing Trump’s name for hand-counting would undercut gross sales of their poll tabulator machines.
The former Dominion official mentioned, “if they did all the election denier stuff, it would not be a viable business.” And when NCS requested Leiendecker whether or not his acquisition of Dominion was a MAGA takeover, he replied, “it’s not.”