Prosecutors: U.S. election firm gave Chinese workers 'superadministration' access to election data

A U.S. election technology company currently embroiled in scandal gave Chinese subcontractors high-level security access to American election data, according to a warrant filed by prosecutors this week in Los Angeles. 

Authorities earlier this month arrested Eugene Yu, the CEO of the election software company Konnech, on charges of grand theft and embezzlement related to his work with that firm. Controversy has also swirled over Konnech's alleged storage of poll worker data in servers located in the People's Republic of China.

Konnech says on its website that it offers its PollChief "election logistic software" to nearly three dozen clients across the United States. The warrant for Yu's arrest, meanwhile, made startling allegations related to the handling of sensitive data for those clients. 

The charging document, filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles on Thursday, claims that a project manager in August "wrote that any employee for Chinese contractors working on PollChief software had 'superadministration' privileges for all PollChief clients."

The project manager reportedly described the decision as a "huge security issue;" He later stressed to workers at the company the "need to ensure the security privacy and confidentiality [of] our client data." 

The warrant also alleges Konnech employees “sent personal identifying information of Los Angeles County election workers to third-party software developers who assisted with creating and fixing” the company’s PollChief software.

Konnech did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News on Saturday. Yu's arrest warrant recommended that he be given no bail while being detained.

Yu could reportedly face up to a decade in prison if convicted on the charges.