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CEO of poll worker scheduling software company Konnech charged in Los Angeles : NPR


A poll worker cleans a voting machine at an early voting location in Inglewood, California, on October 29, 2020. The Los Angeles County District Attorney alleges that Konnech’s CEO, The company, which makes the surveying employee scheduling software, improperly gave Chinese contractors access to sensitive employee data.

Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg via Getty Images


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Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg via Getty Images


A poll worker cleans a voting machine at an early voting location in Inglewood, California, on October 29, 2020. The Los Angeles County District Attorney alleges that Konnech’s CEO, The company, which makes the surveying employee scheduling software, improperly gave Chinese contractors access to sensitive employee data.

Patrick T. Fallon / Bloomberg via Getty Images

Prosecutors in Los Angeles say Konnech, a small company that makes scheduling software for election workers, granted its contractors in China illegal access to sensitive data such as part of a “big data breach”. A defense lawyer said the prosecution was relying on dubious information from “one of the more discredited voter deniers.”

Now, amid the allegations, several localities across the US are deliberating whether to get rid of Konnech’s software with just a few weeks to go until Election Day.

Konnech has made its PollChief software available to a number of cities and counties nationwide, including Los Angeles County.

The LA district attorney alleges that by giving contractors in China access to sensitive data about election workers, Konnech violated his contract – and criminal law.

Konnech CEO Eugene Yu has charge with conspiracy to embezzle public funds and major theft due to embezzlement of public funds.

The DA’s criminal complaint does not mention a motive for the alleged criminal conspiracy, and does not allege that Yu stole money, but that he appropriated government money.

On Friday, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered Yu to stay at home in LA and post a $500,000 bond. Although Yu’s passport was seized by LA district attorney, prosecutor Eric Neff argued that Yu should be detained pending trial, as he allegedly posed a “major flight risk.” due to its “deep relationship with China”. Yu’s defense lawyer disagreed, arguing that a combination of GPS monitoring and payment of the bond was sufficient. Defense finally secured Yu’s release. He will re-appear in court in November, where he will plead guilty in the case.

The criminal complaint says that third-party contractors in China who were sent worker data also “assisted in creating and repairing” Konnech’s software.

A project manager for Konnech’s $2.9 million contract with LA County said this was a “major security issue,” according to the complaint. But a spokeswoman for the county clerk said the county is still planning to use Konnech’s software in this fall’s election.

Prosecutor Neff said in court on Friday that “this is believed to be the largest data breach in US history,” though he did not provide further details on that claim.

Defense attorney Janet Levine questioned the prosecutor’s claims and countered that such breaches were an unfortunate practice, noting that “the number of data breaches in the country is staggering.” 2017 data breach from credit reporting company Equifax Exposed sensitive information about 147 million people – a much larger number than was alleged in the case against Konnech.

In any case, District Attorney George Gascón previously emphasized in a statement that “this investigation only concerns personally identifiable information of those who participated in the election. In this case, the alleged conduct did not affect the tabulating and did not alter the election results. .”

Last week, Yu was arrest in his home state of Michigan, and prosecutors sought his extradition to California to face charges.

The district attorney’s office also told NPR that it opened the investigation on advice from Gregg Phillips, a well-known voter denier associated with the controversial True the Vote group. Phillips and True the Vote also executive produced and provided the basis for the highly publicized film denial of the vote. 2000 mules.

Phillips has said that True the Vote’s examination of Konnech benefited from information provided by far-right conspiracy theorists QAnon.

The district attorney’s office previously stated that True the Vote played no role in their investigation, but now acknowledges that Phillips’ report “in fact led to our initiation of the investigation.” his investigation,” according to a spokesman.

Yu’s defense attorneys raised concerns about criminal prosecution based on any information from Phillips.

Konnech representatives also questioned why an alleged breach of contract would be considered a crime, when such disputes are usually handled in civil court.

“It looks like a contract lawsuit to me,” said Levine, Yu’s defense attorney.

‘A very confusing situation’

Yu’s arrest and the questions surrounding it caused a flurry of chaos through polling stations around the country in the midst of the midterm elections.

A spokesperson for the LA district attorney’s office said it has received requests from 20 other jurisdictions using Konnech’s software about the allegations.

NPR has confirmed at least four electoral jurisdictions have stopped using Konnech’s software, including City of Detroitthere are more than 500,000 registered voters.

Detroit city secretary Janice Winfrey declined a request for an interview from NPR, but told member station WDET in a statement that the city was terminating Konnech’s contract “out of an abundance of caution.”

“Our data, now back under our exclusive control, is stored on servers located in Lansing, Michigan. Konnech, under its contract, only provides support,” Winfrey said. logistics and call center support”. “I and my staff are confident that the 2022 election process will be smooth, after all votes have been counted, a product that could not be more perfect.”

In Virginia’s Loudoun County, northwest of Washington, D.C., election officials there scrambled to make a decision on whether to forego Konnech’s services for this election, even though they didn’t feel the same way. Looks like they have all the information about the allegations.

“I have no idea [what’s going on]”Richard Kodas, Loudoun’s deputy director of elections, said.” District Attorney [in LA County] doesn’t seem to talk. It was a very confusing situation. And we’ve talked about this over and over because no one has the full story. “

The office has had a harder time recruiting poll workers in recent years due to increased surveillance about the elections, Kboards said, so they ultimately decided to stop using the Konnech software as a precaution.

“At this particular time, with an election sighing on our necks, the last thing we need is for our election officers to feel like we’re not doing everything we can to protect them,” Kboards said.

The county retrieved poll worker data from Konnech and put together a plan to manage and communicate with those employees this fall using a few different systems.

“Electoral administrators are tough, resilient people,” Kboards said, noting that in 2020, Virginia lawmakers change the rules to expand ballot access just weeks before the election. “It’s horrible to say the least, but we’re used to deploying systems with little or no notice.”

At least two other Virginia counties, Fairfax and Prince Williamalso said they had stopped using Konnech.

While the four jurisdictions represent a small fraction of the thousands of voting jurisdictions that make up the fabric of US elections, it can represent a sizable portion of Konnech’s business in the United States. America. The company only has about two dozen employees, and the about page on its website says it already has 32 North American customers before the controversy.

Another customer, Minneapolis, said statement last week that it doesn’t think any of its pollster data was affected and said it still plans to use Konnech software this year unless more information is revealed.

Other election offices, such as election offices in Hillsborough County, Fla. and Parker County, Texastried to distance themselves from the controversy by making it clear publicly that they do not use Konnech’s software.

A legal battle and an alleged ‘smear campaign’

Both Konnech and True the Vote have exchanged allegations back and forth for months. In August 2022, Phillips and True the Vote accused Konnech of being part of a “red Chinese communist party running against the United States.”

The next month, Konnech applied litigation in federal court against True the Vote and alleges that the group illegally accessed Konnech’s data and smeared Konnech with a xenophobic “smear campaign.” Yu was born in China but immigrated to the US in the 1980s and became a US citizen in 1997, the company said. A spokesperson for Konnech gave interviews to several media outlets, including NPR, describes True the Vote’s accusations as conspiracy theories and says that Yu is facing death threats as a result. The company admitted to doing business in China in 2021 and said it has employees there working on software testing and development. Company emphasizehowever, “Konnech has never stored customer data on servers in China.”

A federal judge issued a temporary ban against True the Vote, asking the team to stop using any data obtained from Konnech and disclosing information about who may have helped True the Vote access data from Konnech.

Even after Yu’s arrest, the judge, Kenneth Hoyt, expressed skepticism and exasperation toward True the Vote’s attorneys, according to one transcript of a trial obtained by the NPR. He also described the defamation case as separate and distinct from the criminal case in Los Angeles.

Judge Hoyt, who was nominated to the bench by President Ronald Reagan, told True the Vote’s attorneys, “I think you might be played by the team.”

“I’m confident I’m not being cheated on,” Brock Akers, a lawyer for True the Vote, replied, adding that he thinks the group’s “voting with integrity” work is “worth it.”

Judge Hoyt said: “I don’t really trust any of those people who claim they’re doing it.

As Vote’s attorney told the court their initial source of information about Konnech was a man named Mike Hasson. Konnech since then search to add Hasson as a defendant in their case. NPR was unable to contact Hasson by phone or email.

Despite the federal judge’s skepticism, authorities in Los Angeles appear to have taken True the Vote’s information seriously, though the complaint does not address the type of widespread conspiracy by the Chinese government that Phillips claimed.

A spokesperson for the LA district attorney said in a statement, “Our Public Integrity Division (PID) regularly receives complaints from the public. Typically, these complaints are brought by the defendant’s political opponents. With that in mind, if the criminal accuses us it is our responsibility to conduct an independent investigation.[g] Phillips’ report to PID was the first step in a thorough and still ongoing independent investigation that ultimately led to the arrest and conviction of Mr. Yu. “

A representative for True the Vote declined to comment.

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