More Johnson County poll workers than previously thought may have had their Social Security numbers, drivers license numbers or both exposed in the ongoing case involving Konnech, an election management software company whose CEO was recently arrested.
Driving the news: The county manager’s office Monday afternoon said officials discovered over the weekend that 1,319 election workers will have to be notified that their data may have been compromised.
- The county had previously reported that 825 county election workers — out of 9,800 total — were impacted.
Key quote: “Now with full access to the system, we discovered over the weekend that the PollChief database contains 763 social security numbers collected in 2016,” said a release issued by the county manager’s office Monday.
What’s next: Those 1,319 impacted workers will be contacted and offered free monitoring of their information, but so far there has been no evidence of malicious activity, the county release said.
The backstory: PollChief is a suite of software made by Konnech designed to organize and communicate with poll workers who staff election sites each year.
- The county has used PollChief since 2016, but the county does not utilize the payroll portion of PollChief, officials said.
- The Konnech software does not interface with voting tabulation or other county systems, the county release said, and no voter information is involved.
The backstory: Concerns about PollChief arose earlier this month when Konnech CEO Eugene Yu was arrested as part of a Los Angeles County investigation into the software company.
- Yu is accused of allowing access of personal identifying information to a third-party contractor outside of the United States, specifically China, and he has been charged with criminal acts.
State of play: Johnson County says it has since transferred the management system to isolated servers under the county’s exclusive control.
- The system will continue to be used in the upcoming election now that it is isolated.
What else: Sheriff Calvin Hayden recommended Monday that the county discontinue its use of PollChief immediately until the investigation is concluded.
- He said he advised the county legal department and County Commission Chairman Ed Eilert in August about his “grave concerns” regarding Konnech.
- But the county manager’s release disputes Hayden’s statement, saying discussions it and sheriff’s officials had in August did not include mention of PollChief and that the county first became aware of problems on October 4 from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office.
What they’re saying: “We have provided updates to the Sheriff and continue to cooperate with law enforcement and the District Attorney,” the county’s release said.
Zooming out: The Konnech data breach occurs just a little more than two weeks before the November 8 election, at a time when anxiety over election integrity and intimidation of poll workers has been high.
- Hayden’s office said the investigation is ongoing but did not say whether anyone has reported problems with their personal information to his office.
What Johnson County election workers need to know
In the meantime, Hayden advised anyone who registered as a poll worker between June 2016 and now who feels their identity has been compromised to report it to his office at www.JoCosheriff.org.
Roxie Hammill is a freelance journalist who reports frequently for the Post and other Kansas City area publications. You can reach her at roxieham@gmail.com.
