Minneapolis addresses arrest of CEO tied to city's election worker software system
The City of Minneapolis is addressing new allegations against a software executive whose company makes the system the city uses to manage and schedule poll workers.
Authorities arrested Eugene Yu, CEO of Michigan-based Konnech Inc., this week, alleging that Konnech violated its contract with L.A. County in California to securely maintain election worker information on servers in the United States.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said the information was instead kept on servers in China, according to National Public Radio. Yu was arrested on suspicion of theft of personal identifying information.
In a statement Friday, Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services acknowledged that Konnech Inc. is the maker of PollChief Election Worker Management System, which the city uses.
"The City takes these accusations seriously and we are looking into the impact, if any, on data related to Minneapolis poll workers," the city stated. "At this point, the City has no reason to believe its poll worker data is involved."
"It is important to note that the PollChief software is not used in the voting process or in the counting of votes," the statement continued. "A separate, unrelated system is used for the tabulation of ballots that is provided by a different vendor."
Further updates are expected from the city ahead of the upcoming general election on Nov. 8.
