Witness: Poll-watcher data was 'made accessible' to China

FPI / April 12, 2023

A new witness in the case of election software company Konnech vs. election integrity organization True the Vote has come forward and confirmed previous information alleging Konnech gave Americans’ private data, including social security numbers, to programmers based in China.

The witness, former Konnech employee Grant Bradley, testified that he “witnessed customers’ data (specifically poll-watcher information) being made accessible to foreign nationals in China,” according to an affidavit submitted on April 5.

"Bradley’s affidavit further substantiates claims made by Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips of True the Vote which indicate that Konnech’s election logistics software is linked to China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)," UncoverDC reported on April 11.

Konnech's defamation suit against True the Vote accuses the organization of profiting off of false claims that Konnech is involved with processing votes in the U.S., as well as claims that the software company is affiliated with the Chinese government and is guilty of bribery and treason."

Engelbrecht and Phillips were jailed in October of last year after they refused to reveal one of their sources.

Konnech’s CEO, Eugene Yu, was arrested in Los Angeles County, California on Oct. 4 of last year for illegally storing the personal data of American election workers on servers in China. The charges against Yu were dropped in November 2022.

Bradley also confirms Konnech logistics software was and “may still be” substantially developed by Chinese nationals. According to Bradley, publicity and "political pressure" on Konnech has persuaded the company to superficially reorganize its hiring practices. The "reorganization" involves the firing and then rehiring of Chinese nationals as independent contractors with “the exact same responsibilities.” Bradley stated there are anywhere from “80 to perhaps 100 Chinese nationals" working on Konnech's election software "for American clients."

In new information, Bradley said that Yu asked him to “make a campaign contribution to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s campaign in [Yu’s] name.” Yu is a naturalized citizen from China living in Lansing, Michigan.

Yu allegedly told Bradley he would reimburse him, but Bradley said he “knew the request [would] be a violation of Michigan Campaign Finance Law and rejected it.”

The affidavit also alleges that Konnech uses a “standard process” to upload files containing private information on poll workers to DingTalk or Jira.

"DingTalk is a Chinese communication and collaboration app whose parent company is Alibaba and whose co-founder, Jack Ma, is a member of the CCP," UncoverDC noted. "Bradley explains in his affidavit that DingTalk and Jira are efficient ways to onboard China-based programmers. The 'entire Chinese team' has access to 'American poll worker data and polling locations' on DingTalk."

Bradley also said in the affidavit that Konnech “superiors” directed him to tell customers that “poll data was not stored overseas, was not available to foreign nationals” and to tell customers he “had no idea why Eugene Yu had been arrested” even though Bradley and his superiors “knew these statements were false.”

Yu allegedly brushed off his practice of employing Chinese nationals as something “everyone did.” Yu allegedly told Bradley “not to worry about it.” Bradley said he refused to lie to customers about things he “knew or thought were untrue.”

Engelbrecht told UncoverDC what she thought the impact of Bradley's testimony on Konnech's lawsuit would be: “Read this affidavit. Read the others. Consider the true gravity of what they’ve said, of what we’ve said, of what we went to prison for saying. We shouldn’t be in court; we should be in Congressional hearings. The full depth and breadth of this scandal will shake America to its core.”

UncoverDC's Wendi Strauch Mahoney noted: "Two lone voices, Engelbrecht and Phillips, have repeatedly signaled the national security implications of Konnech’s breach of American data. Engelbrecht has sent out repeated urgent calls on social media pleading with county election officials to investigate their use of the allegedly CCP-connected Konnech election software. If these allegations are true, the Chinese Communist Party continues to possess massive amounts of private data on American poll workers, poll worker locations, and much more. When all is said and done, Americans may someday realize how serious this breach of our election infrastructure is and continues to be."

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