Palm Beach County elections supervisor says arrested man never worked election, stolen thumb drive contained fake data
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Palm Beach County supervisor of elections said a volunteer arrested for stealing an encrypted training device from her office never worked in recent elections, officials said, and the device contained only fake voter data, posing no threat to election integrity.
John D. Panicci was arrested Saturday on theft charges after authorities said he took the device, known as an activator stick or thumb drive, during a poll worker training session March 19 ahead of the March 24 special election in House District 87.
In an exclusive interview with Florida’s Voice, Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link said the thumb drive is used statewide for training and contains fabricated voter names, addresses, and ID numbers for practice scenarios. Trainees practice on how to change a voter’s address, directing someone to the correct precinct or handling a voter who appears to have already voted.
“Even if this person were able to break the encryption, all they’re going to get is made up names, made up information for the purposes of giving various scenarios so there wasn’t a real danger related to what he was able to get,” Link said.
https://flvoicenews.com/exclusive-palm-beach-county-elections-supervisor-says-arrested-man-never-worked-election-stolen-thumb-drive-contained-fake-voter-data/