KNOWiNK hires first CTO as it eyes election technology expansion

Fast-growing election technology firm KNOWiNK has augmented its C-suite with a new hire.

The St. Louis startup has hired Jason Tice as its first chief technology officer, a newly created position that comes as KNOWiNK eyes the expansion of its election technology products.

Tice most recently worked at Maryland Heights-based World Wide Technology, where he held positions that involved product development, innovation and business strategy. He joined World Wide Technology through its 2015 acquisition of software firm Asynchrony Labs, where Tice worked since 2005.

“Jason has excelled at developing thoughtful processes for IT innovation that encourage collaboration and transparency in decision making,” KNOWiNK founder and CEO Scott Leiendecker said. “His thoughtful approach will optimize the gifts that our talented employees — and future employees — bring to our software development teams to advance KNOWiNK’s growth strategy.”

Founded by Leinendecker in 2011, KNOWiNK is a provider of election technology used by over 1,500 voting authorities in more than 30 U.S. states. The Downtown West-based company’s flagship product is the Poll Pad, which allows election jurisdictions to replace the paper-based voter check-in and verification process with an electronic alternative. In addition to the Poll Pad, KNOWiNK has developed technology designed for monitoring elections, election reporting, managing section inventory equipment and printing election ballots.

Tice joins KNOWiNK as it has seen rapid growth in recent years. The 140-person company in 2020 was named the St. Louis fastest-growing private company. It had 2019 revenue of $53.7 million, up from $10.2 million in 2017.

As CTO, Tice will oversee KNOWiNK’s software development efforts, hoping to strengthen its existing products and develop new technologies. Tice said product development initiatives will "figure out ways to innovate and improve the experience for everyone involved” in elections. For example, he said one target areas for the company is improving the voter registration process. That could include developing mobile app technology that allows individuals to securely register to vote, he said. Tice added KNOWiNK could connect that type of technology to other components of elections, such as voter check-in.

“There’s no shortage of opportunity to innovate in this space,” Tice said.