PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A volunteer who participated in a training session at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office was arrested for stealing sensitive computer equipment, authorities announced Sunday.
John Panicci was taken into custody March 28 at his home following an investigation into the theft of an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal at the elections office.
The incident occurred during a volunteer training session on March 19 for the March 24 election. According to detectives, Panicci stole the encrypted access key during the training at the elections office located at 4301 Cherry Road.
While the stolen key was configured only for training databases, officials expressed concern that someone with technical knowledge could potentially reverse engineer the encryption and reintroduce it into a voter registration kiosk for malicious purposes.
The theft was reported to authorities on March 27, prompting an investigation by Palm Beach County detectives. After identifying Panicci as the suspect and establishing probable cause, investigators obtained both an arrest warrant and a residential search warrant.
During the search of Panicci's home, detectives recovered the stolen items along with a substantial amount of electronic and digital storage devices. Panicci was transported to the Palm Beach County Jail and booked on charges.
He is scheduled to appear for his first court appearance Sunday morning.
The investigation highlights security concerns surrounding election equipment, even when configured for training purposes only. The elections office had been conducting the volunteer training session in preparation for the March 24 election.
