KANSAS CITY - 'Trust' isn't just a buzzword when it comes to the world of election technology; it's the entire point of the product. Last week, the infamous firm Dominion Voting Systems was purchased and rebranded as Liberty Vote.
The man behind the acquisition, St. Louis entrepreneur Scott Leiendecker, says he hopes to ensure public confidence in vote tallies by focusing on paper versus digital. His M&A activity is drawing bi-partisan optimism.
Eric Fey, the Democratic Director of Elections for St. Louis County, has known Leiendecker "since he was election director in St. Louis City," he says. "I've always thought he was very innovative." Fey credits Leiendecker with instituting "a lot of reforms at the city election board" that transformed it into a "more well-running agency than it had been before."
After leaving public service, Leiendecker founded KNOWiNK, a St. Louis-based company that quietly became a powerhouse in the election space. It provides the electronic poll books used to check in voters and has secured contracts in 36 states and Washington, D.C., making it what Fey describes as "the premier electronic poll book vendor throughout the United States."
Fey's own county, the largest in Missouri, is a client. "When I came in as director in St. Louis County, we contracted with them for electronic poll books," he explains. "Scott and KNOWiNK have been great to work with."
This track record is why Fey is optimistic about Leiendecker's high-profile purchase. "Based on what I've seen with Scott both on the public side and the private side, I would think there should be good things ahead for all those parties involved," Fey tells KMOX.
When asked directly if Leiendecker is someone who can be trusted with such a critical function of a free society, Fey was unequivocal. "I think so. I mean, the proof's in the pudding. That's what his track record has proved."
In 2021, Leiendecker talked with KMOX innovation hosts Michael Calhoun and Travis Sheridan and shared how this experience became his key to unlocking the trust of government officials, who are notoriously cautious about partnering with fledging start-ups on sensitive election processes.
He recalled speaking to crowds of officials at conferences. "As soon as I mentioned I was the former election director from St. Louis, Missouri, that would always get people's attention. I think it was the fact that they felt they could trust me. I've been in their shoes. I've been in the trench," he said. "That gave them a sense of security. Safety. 'I can trust this guy.'"
Leiendecker described how the 'St. Louis hustle' attitude helped to get KNOWiNK's primary product, Poll Pad, into new markets. "It's just hard work," he told KMOX back in 2021. "I'm on the road today, headed down to Kentucky on a Friday... to hit the pavement, get out, show your product and talk to people about the passion you have for it."
Leiendecker was clear at that time that KNOWiNK was on the "management side" of elections, not the vote-counting side. "We don't count the votes, we don't count the ballots." Instead, his focus then was on "the verification, making sure we're keeping the records clean."
Now, he's bringing that same philosophy to a much larger stage.
Liberty Vote, formerly Dominion, has announced it will prioritize hand-marked paper ballots, a move St. Louis County's Fey says reflects a nationwide trend toward systems where voters fill out a physical ballot that is then scanned, creating a paper trail which can later be audited.
For Fey, the ascendance of a local entrepreneur to a national stage is also a point of civic pride. "I think it's probably a good thing for St. Louis," he says. "It means a St. Louis-based company is going to be growing. Economically speaking, that's a good sign."
In 2013, an early-stage KNOWiNK was part of Arch Grants' second cohort.