PALM BEACH, Florida – A Democrat elections volunteer in Palm Beach County has been arrested for allegedly stealing an encrypted access key and sensitive computer equipment ahead of last week’s special election in which a Democrat won by 800 votes in the district including President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.

John Panicci, 59, of Lake Worth, Florida, was taken into custody Saturday evening, accused of taking sensitive computer equipment and other supplies on March 19, just five days before the March 24 special election.

WPBF-TV in West Palm Beach reports: “Sheriff’s office detectives determined that on March 19, the Supervisor of Elections Office conducted a training session for volunteers assisting with the election scheduled for March 24. During the session, Panicci stole an encrypted access key from a voter registration terminal. …

“The sheriff’s office said the key was configured only for training databases. There was concern that a knowledgeable person could potentially reverse engineer the encryption and reintroduce the key into a voter registration kiosk for malicious purposes.

“Once probable cause was established, the sheriff’s office obtained search and arrest warrants. On Saturday, March 28, deputies executed a search warrant at Panicci’s home. During the search, detectives recovered the stolen items along with a substantial amount of electronic and digital storage devices. …

“During a court appearance on Sunday morning, Panicci was told not to have contact with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office. He is being held in the Palm Beach County Jail on $6,000 bail.”

Panicci is listed as a registered Democrat in Palm Beach County on state voter records, with an active registration dating to 2001.

WPTV-TV noted: “The investigation highlights security concerns surrounding election equipment, even when configured for training purposes only.”

The March 24 election in Trump’s home district saw Democrat candidate Emily Gregory in an upset win over Republican Jon Maples, who had been endorsed by the president.

Eric Daugherty of Florida’s Voice News warned Sunday: “Election integrity is vital to our republic. If it’s happening in Florida – IT’S HAPPENING NATIONWIDE.”

Others commented:

“The election results should be thrown out and the election should be held again.”

“Floridians demand investigations now in these special elections that were won by Ds with very little votes advantage. We can’t trust our elections systems and results if we are constantly confronted with fraudulent behaviors that go unchallenged.”

“Nothing to see here! A Palm Beach elections volunteer steals an encrypted access key and gear just days before the election … but we’re told it ‘wouldn’t have changed the outcome’ and investigations will be minimal. Meanwhile, another razor-thin Democrat ‘flip’ in Florida Senate District 14 (Hillsborough) by only ~400 votes in a low-turnout special. Two ‘surprise’ flipped Republican seats in one night. Move along, folks—nothing suspicious about electronic voting systems, volunteer access to keys, or these convenient upsets. Time for full forensic audits, paper ballots, and real transparency before November.”

“When will members of Congress ever realize that if a man built a computer including an electronic voting device, there’s no way to keep it from getting hacked! Somebody somewhere can hack it! My God the stupidity is astounding but I really don’t think it’s stupidity. I think it’s absolute fraud!”g