Earlier this month, Dominion Voting Systems, the second-largest U.S. voting system vendor, was sold to Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican election official. The deal, which rebranded the company as Liberty Vote, has raised concerns about partisan control over equipment that counts more than a quarter of U.S. ballots. While the sale highlights longstanding issues in the election industry, experts say it underscores deeper problems with transparency and regulation.
The announcement of the sale came earlier in October 2025, sparking speculation on social media and blogs about the implications of a self-declared partisan owning key voting infrastructure. Scott Leiendecker, the buyer, is a former Republican election official, though the terms of the deal remain undisclosed, including the price and any financing from other parties.
Prior to the sale, Dominion was primarily financed by Staple Street Capital, a private equity firm with undisclosed investors. This opacity is common in the industry: the largest vendor, Election Systems & Software (ES&S), which handles over 46 percent of U.S. votes, is backed by the McCarthy Group, founded by Michael McCarthy, who served as treasurer for Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel's 1990s campaign. Hagel later invested in and advised the group. Similarly, in 2004, Diebold's president Walden O’Dell wrote a fundraising letter pledging to deliver Ohio's electoral votes for George W. Bush.
Congress has struggled to address these issues. During a 2020 House Administration Committee hearing, vendors refused to disclose annual profits—derived entirely from taxpayer dollars—or identify investors with more than a 5 percent stake. No follow-up occurred.
Foreign influence concerns persist: In 2018, Maryland's voter database host ByteGrid LLC was owned by a firm linked to a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin. In 2024, New Hampshire discovered its voter registration vendor had outsourced work to contractors connecting to Russian servers.
Cozy vendor-official ties have also drawn scrutiny. A 2019 McClatchy investigation found ES&S provided free trips, entertainment, and meals to officials via an 'advisory board.' That year, ES&S paid nearly $3 million in fines for violating Pennsylvania lobbying and donation rules, yet Philadelphia approved a $29 million contract despite opposition.
The situation has worsened since Donald Trump's false 2020 election claims, deterring criticism of vendors. To fix this, states could mandate transparency in contracts, ban gifts, and regulate vendors, while the U.S. Election Assistance Commission could require ownership disclosures for certification. As the article notes, 'These are our elections. We should know who’s running them.'