Florida Election Volunteer Who Expressed Anti-trump Views On Social Media Charged With Stealing Voter Terminal Key

A Florida man has been arrested pursuing an alleged theft astatine an election supervisor’s office, according to rule enforcement.

John D. Panicci, 59, of Lake Worth, was arrested connected Saturday and charged pinch theft aft nan Palm Beach County elections agency reported that delicate machine instrumentality had been stolen from nan office.

According to nan Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, nan Supervisor of Elections Office held a training convention for volunteers moving a March 24 election.

Investigators judge that Panicci attended that training and utilized nan opportunity to bargain an encrypted entree cardinal from a elector registration terminal.

On his Facebook page, Panicci, a U.S. Army veteran, posted respective times expressing outrage astatine nan actions of nan Trump administration.

On March 16, Panicci posted astir Trump invoking nan deaths of servicemembers successful Kuwait successful a fundraising email. “I mean seriously, he agrees making money complete nan decease of a worker is conscionable good to do. He past goes connected successful nan aforesaid activity to spout astir votes and canvass numbers?! WTF?,” he wrote. That aforesaid day, Panicci besides criticized Trump for apparently alienating U.S. friends pinch nan ongoing conflict successful Iran.

On November 17, 2025, Panicci wrote a lengthy station criticizing nan president’s reluctance to merchandise nan Epstein files. In 2024, Panicci wrote that during his refresher people astatine nan Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office, he was told that if Trump came to vote, he would not beryllium allowed because of his New York felony conviction.

This is not nan case, arsenic Florida rule dictates that only felons convicted successful nan Sunshine State are forbidden from voting. If a personification is convicted retired of authorities and that authorities allows felons who are not presently incarcerated to vote, they are allowed to ballot successful Florida.

A typical predetermination was held connected March 24 successful which Florida Democrats flipped 2 authorities legislature seats, including District 87, which includes President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago.

The sheriff's agency said that nan stolen cardinal only provided entree to training databases, not to elector kiosks.

After establishing probable cause, nan sheriff's agency executed a hunt warrant astatine Panicci's location and recovered nan key, arsenic good arsenic physics and integer retention devices, according to nan release.

Panicci was arrested and appeared successful tribunal connected Sunday.

A judge told him he was to person nary interaction pinch nan Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office. He was past booked into nan Palm Beach County Jail connected $6,000 bail.