PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A paid poll worker accused of stealing an encrypted access key from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office is facing a felony charge.
John Panicci, 59, was taken into custody on Saturday and made his first appearance in court on Sunday. He is being charged with a felony count of offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks, and electronic devices, as well as a misdemeanor charge of petit theft.
According to the affidavit, an investigation was initiated by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office on March 27, after they received a call about a theft at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office.
The office's security manager, Christopher Allen, claimed that after a March 19 training session for the March 24 special election, a device related to their voter registration kiosk was missing, and he was notified of it on March 23. Surveillance footage showed Panicci taking the device, described as a black and silver SanDisk brand USB drive, from a neighboring kiosk and putting in his right pocket.
The Supervisor of Elections confirmed to WPTV that Panicci was a paid poll worker who worked three previous elections — 2016, 2018 and 2024. He was invited back to work the March 24 election.
He was terminated the same day as the training, and was not allowed to participate in the March 24 election.
The affidavit states that this key could only access a training database, as volunteers were training to confirm voter registrations on the day of the election. However, SOE officials were concerned that the key could be tampered with, and that it could be used for "malicious" purposes if reintroduced to the SOE systems.
Theron Todd, a poll worker manager, confronted Panicci about the theft via phone, and he allegedly denied taking the device, then claimed he did not mean to take it, and had discarded it. A search of his home recovered stolen items along with a substantial amount of electronic and digital storage devices.
The affidavit states the SOE office was able to complete the March 24 election "without having to change any security protocols."
