For five years, Dominion Voting Systems was at the center of the most politically charged story in American election history. False claims about its voting machines spread across cable news and social media, triggering billion-dollar lawsuits, a landmark settlement, and a national conversation about how democracy actually works.
Then, in October 2025, the company quietly ceased to exist — sold to a new owner, rebranded overnight, and replaced with something entirely different.
So who owns Dominion Voting Systems in 2026? The honest answer is: nobody. Dominion is gone. Here is the full story of how it started, who owned it through the storm, and what replaced it.
Dominion Voting Systems No Longer Exists as a Company
This is the most important thing to understand upfront. Dominion Voting Systems was acquired on October 9, 2025, by Scott Leiendecker — a former Republican elections director for St. Louis — through his company Liberty Vote. On the day the deal was announced, Liberty Vote issued a statement that read: “As of today, Dominion is gone.
Liberty Vote assumes full ownership and operational control.” The Dominion brand has been retired. Its website now redirects to libertyvote.com. The voting systems, the staff, and the infrastructure all continue — but the name Dominion Voting Systems no longer exists in any legal or operational sense.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Party | Role | Status | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Leiendecker | Founder, Chairman & CEO of Liberty Vote | Current owner | Former Republican elections director for St. Louis; founder of KnowInk |
| Liberty Vote | Acquiring Company | 100% owner of all former Dominion assets | St. Louis-based; announced purchase October 9, 2025; “100% American owned” |
| KnowInk | Sister company under Leiendecker | Separate but related entity | Major e-pollbook manufacturer; also led by Leiendecker |
| Staple Street Capital | Previous majority owner (2018–2025) | Fully exited October 2025 | New York PE firm; bought 76% stake for $38.3 million in 2018 |
| John Poulos | Previous CEO and shareholder | Exited at acquisition | Former CEO; held approximately 12% equity in Dominion |
| PennantPark Investment | Previous minority investor | Exited at acquisition | Provided debt financing during Staple Street era |
| John Poulos & Management Team | Previous management shareholders | Exited at acquisition | Owned combined significant equity stake |
The Origin Story: Toronto, 2002
Dominion Voting Systems was founded in 2002 in Toronto, Canada by James Hoover. It was initially a small player in the election technology space, focused primarily on the Canadian market.
In 2009, the company moved its headquarters to Denver, Colorado, signaling a strategic pivot toward the much larger American market.
The company’s real growth came through acquisitions. In 2009, Dominion acquired Premier Election Solutions — formerly known as Diebold Election Systems — from Election Systems & Software. In June 2010, it acquired Sequoia Voting Systems.
These two deals instantly transformed Dominion from a mid-sized regional company into one of the largest election technology vendors in North America. By the time of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Dominion provided voting systems to more than a quarter of all registered voters in the United States, covering 27 states including the entire state of Georgia.
Who Owned Dominion Before the Sale: Staple Street Capital
Before Liberty Vote took over, the controlling owner of Dominion Voting Systems was Staple Street Capital — a small, relatively obscure New York-based private equity firm.
In 2018, Staple Street acquired a 76% controlling stake in Dominion for just $38.3 million, in a deal that valued the entire company at approximately $80 million.
Staple Street was co-founded by Hootan Yaghoobzadeh and Stephen Owens, both former executives at the Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms.
By the time Fox News settled its defamation lawsuit with Dominion in April 2023 for $787.5 million — the largest publicly known media defamation settlement in American history — Staple Street’s original $38.3 million investment had turned into an extraordinary windfall.
That represented a return of more than 1,500% on their original equity check. The proceeds were distributed among Dominion’s shareholders, including Staple Street, company management, and employees who held stakes.
The Fox News Lawsuit: The Case That Defined Dominion
No account of Dominion’s ownership history is complete without understanding the lawsuit that changed everything.
After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump and his allies spread claims that Dominion’s voting machines had been used to flip votes. These claims were broadcast repeatedly on Fox News and other right-wing media outlets.
On March 26, 2021, Dominion filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News in Delaware Superior Court. The suit alleged that Fox hosts and executives knowingly aired false claims about Dominion’s machines despite internal communications showing they knew the claims were untrue.
On March 31, 2023, Judge Eric M. Davis ruled on summary judgment that it was “crystal clear that none of the statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true.”
Just weeks later, on April 18, 2023 — as a jury was being seated and opening arguments were about to begin — Fox News and Dominion announced a settlement of $787.5 million. It remains the largest publicly known media defamation settlement in U.S. history.
Fox issued a statement acknowledging the court’s ruling that its claims about Dominion were false, but did not issue a direct on-air apology.
Dominion also filed separate $1.6 billion defamation lawsuits against Newsmax, One America News (OAN), MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and attorney Sidney Powell. Newsmax settled its case in August 2023 for $67 million. The cases against Lindell, Giuliani, and Powell continued on separate tracks.
Who Is Scott Leiendecker — The New Owner?
Scott Leiendecker is the man who bought what remained of Dominion and repackaged it as something new. He is a former Republican official who served as the GOP elections director for the St. Louis City Board of Elections.
He later founded KnowInk, a major manufacturer of e-pollbooks — the electronic devices used at polling stations to verify voter registrations. KnowInk became one of the dominant vendors in that segment, securing contracts across more than 1,200 districts in 26 states.
Leiendecker purchased Dominion for an undisclosed sum in October 2025, funding it privately. In the press release announcing the acquisition, Liberty Vote committed to being “100% AMERICAN OWNED,” a deliberate contrast to Dominion’s Canadian roots and its previous practice of developing software in Belgrade, Serbia and Toronto.
He has pledged to push for the increased use of paper ballots alongside electronic systems, citing transparency as a priority.
The combined entity of Liberty Vote and KnowInk provides infrastructure covering voting machines and voter verification systems across dozens of U.S. states, making it one of the most significant players in American election technology heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
What Is Liberty Vote Doing Now in 2026?
Liberty Vote is still headquartered in Denver, Colorado — the same city where Dominion was based. KnowInk remains a separate company headquartered in St. Louis but operates under the same leadership.
In 2026, Leiendecker has said his primary focus is ensuring the 2026 U.S. midterm elections run smoothly for all Liberty Vote clients, which include election offices across the states that previously used Dominion systems.
Liberty Vote is also working toward federal certification for new voting systems under the VVSG 2.0 standard — a timeline that New Hampshire, one of Dominion’s existing clients, has written into its contract as a requirement.
The company has been meeting with election clerks directly — a notable contrast to Dominion’s more distant relationship with local officials during the controversy years.
For context on how companies navigate political controversy and ownership transitions, the story of who owns The Wall Street Journal and its Murdoch family control offers a parallel look at media and political power intersecting with corporate ownership.
Did China or Foreign Investors Own Dominion?
One of the most persistent conspiracy theories about Dominion was that it was secretly controlled by foreign interests — particularly by China or Venezuela. These claims were among the specific allegations that formed the basis of Dominion’s successful defamation lawsuits.
The factual record is clear. Dominion was controlled by Staple Street Capital, a New York-based private equity firm with no foreign ownership.
Staple Street’s investors included a range of American and international institutional investors — but there was no evidence of any controlling foreign influence over Dominion’s operations, software, or decision-making.
Courts reviewed these claims extensively and found them to be false. Dominion and its successors at Liberty Vote maintain that their systems cannot be “hacked” or remotely manipulated.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Dominion Voting Systems in 2026?
Dominion Voting Systems no longer exists — it was acquired in October 2025 by Scott Leiendecker and fully rebranded as Liberty Vote.
Q2. When was Dominion Voting Systems acquired?
Dominion was acquired on October 9, 2025, when Scott Leiendecker’s Liberty Vote announced it had assumed full ownership and operational control.
Q3. Who owned Dominion before Liberty Vote?
Staple Street Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, held a 76% controlling stake in Dominion from 2018 until the 2025 sale.
Q4. How much did Staple Street Capital pay for Dominion?
Staple Street Capital paid $38.3 million for its 76% controlling stake in Dominion in 2018, when the company was valued at approximately $80 million.
Q5. How much did Fox News pay Dominion in the settlement?
Fox News settled Dominion’s defamation lawsuit on April 18, 2023 for $787.5 million — the largest publicly known media defamation settlement in U.S. history.
Q6. Who is Scott Leiendecker?
Scott Leiendecker is a former Republican elections director for St. Louis and founder of KnowInk, a major e-pollbook manufacturer. He is now the sole owner and CEO of Liberty Vote.
Q7. Is Liberty Vote the same as Dominion Voting Systems?
Liberty Vote owns all former Dominion assets, staff, and systems. The Dominion brand has been retired — but the underlying voting technology and client contracts continue under the Liberty Vote name.
Q8. Did foreign investors own Dominion Voting Systems?
No. Dominion was controlled by Staple Street Capital, a New York-based private equity firm. Courts found all claims of foreign ownership or control to be false.
Dominion Voting Systems no longer exists. It was acquired on October 9, 2025 by Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican elections official and founder of pollbook company KnowInk, and rebranded entirely as Liberty Vote.
Before its sale, Dominion had been controlled since 2018 by Staple Street Capital, a New York private equity firm that paid just $38.3 million for a 76% stake and watched that investment produce a $787.5 million settlement from Fox News in 2023 — the largest media defamation settlement in American history.
The company that was the subject of some of the most explosive political accusations in modern American electoral history now operates under a new name, new ownership, and a new stated mission of rebuilding trust in election technology — heading into the 2026 midterms with the same machines, same clients, and same infrastructure, but a very different story to tell.