At an invitation-only conference in August a group of election deniers unspooled a new conspiracy theory about the 2020 presidential outcome.
The group suggested that a small American election software company had ties to the Chinese Communist Party and gave the Chinese government access to personal data about two million poll workers in the United States.
The conspiracy theory began to grow as it shot around the internet. The claims showed how China had taken control of America. The company's chief executive, who was born in China, was threatened by some of the employees who shared their LinkedIn pages.
One person wrote in an email that they might want to book flights back to Wuhan before they die.
Two years after Donald J. Trump lost his re-election bid, conspiracy theorists have subjected election officials and private companies that play a major role in elections to a flurry of voter fraud claims.
The attacks on Konnech show how far right election deniers are giving more attention to new companies and groups. They use their claims to raise doubts about the integrity of American elections.
Konnech, a company with 21 employees in the US and six in Australia, has nothing to do with collecting, counting or reporting ballots in American elections. Los Angeles County and Allen County, Ind., are examples of how it helps clients.
The accusations were false. The company said that it had no ties to the Chinese government and that all of its data was stored in the US.
The firm has been affected by the claims. Eugene Yu, the founder and chief executive of Konnech, hid with his family after receiving threats. Users posted information about the number of cars in the company's parking lot, and other employees began working remotely, fearing for their safety.
Mr. Yu said that he had cried. The birth of my daughter was the last time I cried.
The company said it had had to conduct costly audits because of the situation. Reputation Architects was hired to help with the situation.
After the conspiracy theorists discovered that DeKalb County in Georgia was close to signing a contract with Konnech, officials there received emails and comments about the company, which they claimed had "foreign ties." The chairwoman of the county Republican Party echoed parts of the conspiracy theory at a public comment period during the county's elections board meeting.
There are a lot of questions about this vendor.
After the meeting, the contract was signed by the county.
Dele Lowman Smith is the chair of the elections board. It is strange, but it is part of the tone of what we are having to deal with.
Some of the people raising questions about the company are notorious for spreading false information.
True the Vote was founded by Catherine Engelbrecht, a prominent election denier. She was joined on stage by a man who works with the group. The pair became famous this year after being featured in a documentary that claimed that a mysterious army of operatives influenced the presidential election.
At the conference, Ms. Engelbrecht and Mr.Phillips claimed that they were investigating Konnech. According to online accounts from people who attended the conference, the team guessed the password to gain access to the database. The team downloaded personal information on almost two million workers.
They told the FBI of their findings. The agents briefly investigated the claim before questioning whether the data had been hacked.
The F.B.I. does not comment on complaints or tips received from the public.
True the Vote's claim that it had access to a database of more than one million poll workers was impossible because the company had less than 240,000 workers, according to Konnech. The records on those workers are not kept in one database.
The company said it didn't detect a data breach, but wouldn't give details about its technology.
A subsidiary out of China was once owned by Konnech. The company said its employees there used generic data for testing. Employees in China no longer work for the subsidiary.
Konnech filed a lawsuit against True the Vote last month, accusing it of defamation, violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and other charges.
There was a risk that True the Vote would destroy evidence that led the judge to grant an emergency temporary restraining order against them. True the Vote had to explain how it gained access to Konnech's data.
Ms. Engelbrecht and Mr.Phillips said they couldn't speak because of a restraining order.
She said the allegations by Konnech were not true. She said that True the Vote looked forward to a public discussion about Konnech's attempts to silence examination of its activities.
Several important details have changed since the restraining order was issued.
Mr.Phillips said that his analysts had gained access to the data. In a letter shared with Konnech's lawyers, the group claimed that a third party who was not contracted to them or paid by them had approached them and claimed to have Konnech's data. There was only a screen share of certain elements of the data presented by that person. They said that they shared the data with the F.B.I., rather than looking at it.
True the Vote did not hold any data as described in the petition. This is just one of many things that are incorrect.
The lawsuit didn't make believers stop attacking Konnech. Some employees left the company due to stress. Just a few weeks before the election, the workload was increased by the departures.
Mr. Yu sent an email to Ms. The email exchange was one of many documents released by True the Vote. Conspiracy theorists could easily target Mr. Yu with threats. The email he sent is now called nave by him.
He said that they had no interest in the truth. The truth isn't convenient for them.
Berzon reported.
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