Colorado election experts say the state will continue to have “gold standard” elections after a former Republican election official purchased Dominion Voting Systems, which provides voting machines in most Colorado counties.

Scott Leiendecker, a former Republican elections director in St. Louis, purchased Denver-based Dominion and renamed the company Liberty Vote.

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“Liberty Vote is committed to delivering election technology that prioritizes paper-based transparency, security, and simplicity so that voters can be assured that every ballot is filled-in accurately and fairly counted,” Leiendecker said in a statement.

The press release announcing the transition emphasized Liberty Vote’s commitment to election integrity, full American ownership, a focus on paper ballots, and third-party auditing, using language that aligns with so-called election integrity efforts centered around the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.

It also said the company will prioritize compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order on elections, which election experts have said is unconstitutional and has been preemptively blocked by the courts.

Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said Colorado elections will look exactly the same as they have following the change of ownership and that Leiendecker assured him the company does not plan to start from scratch. Dominion has changed ownership and changed names several times before, Crane said.

“We have multiple safeguards in place to make sure that the voting systems are functioning properly and are audited properly,” Crane said. “The product … in counties now, formerly Dominion, now Liberty Vote, is a really, really solid voting system, and nothing’s going to change from that.”

Of Colorado’s 64 counties, 60 use Dominion voting machines, Crane said.

Clerks didn’t know about sale

Colorado law allows counties to change their election equipment providers if they have the money to do it, as Crane said it is a costly process. But he doesn’t anticipate a “mass exodus” away from the Liberty Vote machines following the change in ownership. The timing of the announcement is unfortunate given county clerks are in the middle of administering the 2025 election, Crane said, and they are all still learning about the new company.

Jack Todd, spokesperson for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, said her office is “monitoring this development” and looks forward to “continuing Colorado’s gold standard elections.” Crane said Griswold is likely trying to gather information and learn about the new company just like the county clerks are.

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A handful of clerks spoke with Leiendecker in a call Friday, and all Colorado clerks were invited to a larger call with him Monday. Crane said he appreciates that Leiendecker committed time to address concerns from Colorado election officials after they learned about the new company in charge of their election equipment.

Crane told Leiendecker that he wished election officials knew about the sale before it was publicly announced.

“If there’s an absence of official information, then the disinformation vacuum is just going to go crazy, and that’s what happened here,” Crane said. “So it should have been, they reached out to us first before going public, and hopefully that’s something that in future communications that they will improve upon.”

That disinformation included claims that Leiendecker is “MAGA,” or aligned with Trump and his administration’s priorities, and that he is an election denier, Crane said.

Affiliation with Logan Circle Group

Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López, a Democrat whose elections division uses Dominion voting machines, said he had concerns because of the language in the statement announcing the sale and because of Leiendecker’s affiliation with the Logan Circle Group, a conservative public relations firm. He said the firm’s proximity to the Trump administration and election denialism is what gives him “some pause.”

“It seemed to validate these debunked election conspiracies,” López said about the announcement. “That’s concerning to me when people use that language.”

Trump’s executive orders are bombastic, and they’re bombastic because of the fact that states run elections. Those executive orders fly in the face of the Constitution, they’re not constitutional.

Election officials have been vilified and targeted by “MAGA extremists” the firm represents who believe the 2020 election was stolen, López said. But Leiendecker was sympathetic to the concerns López presented him related to the firm and the commitment to abide by Trump’s executive order.

“I said I just want to make sure that this move isn’t a move that’s going to compromise our model here, or isn’t going to roll over every time the federal government puts out an executive order,” López said. “Trump’s executive orders are bombastic, and they’re bombastic because of the fact that states run elections. Those executive orders fly in the face of the Constitution, they’re not constitutional.”

Claims of widespread fraud in recent U.S. elections have been debunked by elections officials, experts, media investigations, law enforcement, and the courts.

Third-party audits

Election deniers who have targeted Dominion will continue those actions even with the change in ownership, Crane said, because those who believe conspiracy theories about the 2020 election “don’t care about fact” and are “willing to steal and cheat to get different political outcomes or policy outcomes.”

“I think Jesus Christ could come down himself and take ownership of this company and they wouldn’t care,” Crane said. “These people, they don’t care about facts. They don’t care about data. They only care about what their desired outcomes are.”

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Despite his concerns about the new ownership, López said he is still confident in Colorado’s election system, because vendors alone cannot alter a county’s election machines, and those machines have no internet connection. He told Leiendecker that he will explore other vendors for Denver’s election equipment if he starts to see “any kind of change that would compromise the integrity of our elections or trust in our elections.”

“My concern is just making sure that voters have trust in the American electoral system,” López said. “Anything that would come to threaten that or violate that, we don’t want any part of that.”

I think Jesus Christ could come down himself and take ownership of this company and they wouldn’t care ... These people, they don’t care about facts.

Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Bobbie Gross, a Republican, said she has concerns about third-party auditing, continuation of existing contracts, potential decertification of elections equipment and accessibility under the new company. Leiendecker told clerks on Monday that he plans to use “reputable, independent testing labs such as Idaho National Labs and SLI Compliance,” Gross said. She said existing contracts with Dominion will not change, Colorado does not use any outdated equipment that could be up for decertification, and equipment will continue to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Colorado voters should see no difference in how local elections are run, Gross said, and Mesa County has no need to replace or update its current equipment. She said the primary change in the sale is the name of the company.

“If any software updates are introduced in the future, they must first undergo state and federal certification before being implemented,” Gross said in a statement. “It is important for voters to know that every piece of equipment is thoroughly tested with a representative from both major political parties before each election and we audit the elections after to ensure accuracy and integrity.”

The third-party audits Leiendecker plans to implement mirror the current state testing process that ensures the machines’ software works properly, Crane said. They won’t be anything like the dubious Cyber Ninjas “audit” in Arizona following the 2020 election, Crane said.

All paper ballots

Aly Belknap, executive director of Colorado Common Cause, said state laws and processes put in place by the secretary of state and county clerks govern elections in Colorado, and a vendor cannot change that.

“The vendor doesn’t determine the type of equipment we use, how voters cast their ballots, and how those ballots are audited,” Belknap said in a statement. “Colorado voters should continue to have confidence in our elections process. Voters rightfully expect that elections will be run fairly — regardless of who is in office or who is on the ballot.”

The clerk’s association has been cynical about Trump’s executive order, Crane said, but in the call with Colorado clerks Leiendecker “made clear that he was talking about the voting systems part” of the order, which Crane said Colorado is already in compliance with because it uses all paper ballots that don’t have barcodes on them. Gross also said Colorado “already meets or exceeds many of the standards” outlined in Trump’s executive order.

“Our focus remains unchanged, we are committed to conducting fair, (secure), accurate and accessible elections for every eligible Colorado voter,” Gross said.