U.S. Attorney: Election Technology Company Allowed CCP to Freely Access Data

According to report on October 15th, U.S. election technology companies gave Beijing-backed subcontractors access to high-level security access to U.S. election data, according to a warrant filed by prosecutors in Los Angeles this week.

Eugene Yu, CEO of election software company Konnech, was arrested earlier this month on charges of grand theft and embezzlement. Konnech caused controversy by storing data on poll workers on servers controlled and accessible to by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

A project manager testified in August that any employee of a CCP-backed contractor working on PollChief’s software had “super-management” authority over PollChief’s clients, according to charging documents filed Thursday in Superior Court in Los Angeles, California. This is a “huge security issue”. He stressed to the company’s employees the need to ensure the security, privacy and confidentiality of their customers’ data.

The warrant also shows that Konnech employees sent the personally identifiable information of Los Angeles election workers to third-party software developers of PollChief software.

The warrant advised Eugene Yu not to be released on bail while in custody, and if convicted, Yu could face up to 10 years in prison.