Photo: CBS 12
Palm Beach County's Supervisor of Elections says the theft of sensitive elections equipment had no effect on the special elections for Florida House District 87 or a Village Council race in North Palm Beach.
John Panicci is accused of swiping an "activator" or an encrypted security key that's required to access voter registration databases during a training session.
That occurred just a few days before the special elections and Wendy Sartory Link says that Panicci did not work the March 24th election and her staff immediately contacted the vendor about the equipment theft. That vendor said they weren't worried because it's fully encrypted but that even if somebody were able to break that encryption, all they would be able to get is the training database made up of fake names, etc.
She says that after post-election discussions, her office decided to report the theft to PBSO and deputies arrested Panicci who is a registered Democrat living within House District 87.