CEO Of Election Software Firm Charged With Theft Of Poll Worker Data

The founder and CEO of a software company targeted by election deniers has been arrested on suspicion of stealing data on hundreds of Los Angeles County poll workers.
Konnech Corporation's Eugene Yu, 51, was arrested on Tuesday in Meridian Township in and held on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information, the District Attorney's Office said.
Konnech is an obscure firm that provides software to help election officials manage training and scheduling of poll workers, and prosecutors allege that the company improperly stored poll worker data on servers located in .
Yu's arrest came just one day after  wrote a lengthy article detailing how the company had become the focus of 'conspiracy theorists' who asserted that it had 'given the Chinese government backdoor access to personal data about two million poll workers.'
Konnech Corporation CEO Eugene Yu, 51, was arrested on Tuesday in Meridian Township in Michigan and held on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was quick to assert that Yu's alleged crimes 'had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results'
While the charges against Yu do not substantiate those claims in full, they do show that prosecutors believe Konnech may have improperly handled poll worker data.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was quick to assert that Yu's alleged crimes 'had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results.' 
'But security in all aspects of any election is essential so that we all have full faith in the integrity of the election process,' he added in a statement.
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Prosecutors say that during Yu's arrest, computer hard drives and other 'digital evidence' were seized by investigators from the district attorney's office
Gascón's office will now seek his extradition to California. Representatives for Konnech strongly denied the charges against Yu.
'We are continuing to ascertain the details of what we believe to be Mr. Yu's wrongful detention by LA County authorities,' Konnech said in a statement.
'Any LA County poll worker data that Konnech may have possessed was provided to it by LA County, and therefore could not have been "stolen" as suggested,' the company added.
Konnech is an obscure firm based in Michigan that provides software to help election officials manage training and scheduling of poll workers
Yu, who was born in China, became the target of claims by election conspiracy theorists that the company had secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party, the Times reported
Konnech is a small company based in East Lansing, Michigan, with about 27 employees located in the US and Australia. 
In 2020, it won a five-year, $2.9 million contract with LA County for software to track election worker schedules, training, payroll, and communications, according to the county clerk, Dean C. Logan.
Konnech was required to keep the data in the United States and only provide access to citizens and permanent residents but instead stored it on servers in the People´s Republic of China, the DA´s office said.
The DA's office didn't specify what specific information allegedly was taken. But officials said it only involved poll workers, not voting machines or vote counts.
'Data breaches are an ongoing threat to our digital way of life. When we entrust a company to hold our confidential data, they must be willing and able to protect our personal identifying information from theft. Otherwise, we are all victims,' said Gascón.
'With the mid-term General Election 35 days away, our focus remains on ensuring the administration of this election is not disrupted,' said a statement from Dean C. Logan, the LA County registrar-recorder/county clerk.
Konnech employees told the Times that they had gone into hiding after receiving threats from people who believed the company was secretly working with China
There wasn't any evidence that any election worker was bribed or extorted and an investigation was pending into whether any of the data went into inappropriate hands, the DA's office said.
In The New York Times profile published on Monday, Konnech insisted that all the data for its American customers were stored on servers in the United States.
The paper reported that Konnech and Yu, who was born in China, became the target of claims by election conspiracy theorists who believed the company had secret ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The allegations, which circulated online, held that 'China had gained near complete control of America's elections' and incitasecurity.com planned to use poll worker data to threaten or bribe election officials. 
The Times wrote there wasn't any evidence to support those claims, but said Yu received threats and went into hiding.
Konnech also has contracts with Allen County, Indiana, and DeKalb County in Georgia, the Times said.
On its website, Konnech said it currently has 32 clients in North America.

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