CEO of election software company arrested on suspicion of storing poll worker data in China

The CEO of election software company Konnech, whose name has been mentioned in connection with several 2020 election fraud conspiracies, was arrested at his home in Michigan this weekend on suspicion of storing United States poll worker data in China, breaching its agreement with Los Angeles County.

The LA County District Attorney’s Office is seeking the extradition of the CEO, Eugene Yu, citing the seizure of other evidence, including hard drives, that implicated Yu in the possible theft of the poll workers’ personal identities and information.

“I want to thank my prosecutors and investigators for their commitment to eliminating cyber intrusions against government entities and local businesses,” LA District Attorney Gascón said in a statement.

“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.”

Konnech is maintaining its innocence as well as Yu’s. The company said in a statement to Gizmodo and several other news outlets this week, “We are continuing to ascertain the details of what we believe to be Mr. Yu’s wrongful detention by L.A. County authorities…Any L.A. County poll worker data that Konnech may have possessed was provided to it by L.A. County, and therefore could not have been ‘stolen’ as suggested.”

The LA District Attorney’s Office says it has evidence that suggests Konnech and Yu are guilty. “Under its $2.9 million, five-year contract with the county, Konnech was supposed to securely maintain the data and that only United States citizens and permanent residents have access to it,” said the DA’s statement.

“District Attorney investigators found that in contradiction to the contract, information was stored on servers in the People’s Republic of China.”

The statement went on to assure the public that the incident had no impact on election results or voter data. “This investigation is concerned solely with the personal identifying information of election workers. In this case, the alleged conduct had no impact on the tabulation of votes and did not alter election results,” the LA DA said.