Johnson County poll workers checking voters in during the August primary election. File photo.
Johnson County says it has transferred its election worker data to servers under the “exclusive control” of county government following an investigation into whether some personal information of county poll workers had been stolen or compromised.
The move comes as early voting for the Nov. 8 election began over the weekend in Johnson County.
The personal data in question involved only election workers and did not impact any voters’ information, county officials say.
The back story: The county’s decision to move election worker data under the county’s control, announced Friday, comes nearly three weeks after the arrest of Konnech Corporation’s CEO Eugene Yu on suspicion of stealing and selling personal identifying information of poll worker in Los Angeles County in California.
Konnech produces a software, PollChief, that’s used for managing and scheduling poll workers and is used in Los Angeles and other jurisdictions around the country.
Johnson County previously used PollChief for poll worker assignments and election office communications, county officials said.
Zooming out: The PollChief server was not connected to the county’s voting machines, the county said in a release, or “any vote tabulation, voter registration, financial or any county systems” — nor did the county utilize the full functionality of the software, which includes payroll.
County officials have said that shortly after Yu’s arrest, officials from Konnech gave assurances to the Johnson County Election Office via email that the county’s election worker data ‘“remains secure” on servers in Michigan — where the company is based.
The Los Angeles investigation also did not find any evidence or stolen personal information from voters or of any impacts on election results, according to Los Angeles officials.
Above, Johnson County poll workers checking in voters during the Aug. 2 primary election. File photo.
What’s the impact on Johnson County election workers?
Johnson County says it transferred its PollChief election worker management from Konnech-operated servers to county-operated one on Friday afternoon, in order to add an “extra level of security.”
County officials say Konnech gave a third-party vendor access to PollChief for software development and technical support without the county’s approval.
The details: The county says approximately 825 out of 9,800 Johnson County poll workers had a driver’s license number stored in their PollChief records — which is considered personal identifying information.
The county has found no evidence yet of theft from the system under the previous server, but poll workers whose driver’s license numbers were potentially exposed will be contacted, the county says.
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