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An election volunteer from Palm Beach County was taken into custody on Saturday night following accusations of stealing an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal. The incident reportedly occurred during a training session on March 19, just days before the special election held on March 24.
Authorities from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office released a statement indicating that photos captured during the training session showed 59-year-old John Panicci committing the alleged theft. However, the incident was not reported until March 27, three days after the election took place.
The Sheriff’s office expressed concerns over the key, which, although configured solely for training purposes, posed a potential security risk. Officials warned that someone with technical expertise could theoretically reverse engineer the key’s encryption, possibly reintroducing it into a voter registration kiosk with malicious intent.
Panicci, who describes himself on Facebook as a “huge tech nerd, car guy, and photographer,” claims to have studied computer programming at the University of Maryland. His profile notes that he is self-employed, providing computer consulting and repair services, while also mentioning his attempts to launch a t-shirt store on Etsy.
Additionally, his social media activity reveals numerous posts critical of former President Donald Trump, with a noticeable increase in such posts leading up to the volunteer training session.
County Judge Frank Castor set Panicci’s bail at $6,000 during a hearing on Sunday, March 29, at the jail, according to court records. An initial case conference is scheduled for May 21 before Circuit Judge Sherri Collins.
The Sheriff’s office says that, “While the key was configured solely for training databases, there was concern that a knowledgeable individual could potentially reverse engineer the encryption and reintroduce it into a voter registration kiosk for malicious purposes.”
Panicci describes himself as a “huge tech nerd, car guy and photographer” on his Facebook profile, which says that he studied computer programming at the University of Maryland, and that he’s currently self-employed in “computer consulting and repair,” but also references a t-shirt store on Etsy he’s “struggling to get off the ground.”Â
His Facebook page also contains ample evidence of Panicci’s Trump Derangement Syndrome – with an increase in the days just prior to the election volunteer training.
With his tech background, apparent financial struggles, and Trump Derangement Syndrome, I’m sure his possession of the encrypted access key was just an accident.
Editor’s Note: The Democrats are doing everything in their power to undermine the integrity of our elections.