Secretary of State testifies to GOAC after subpoena issued

PIERRE, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - On Thursday, the Government Operations and Audit Committee (GOAC) met for the final time to discuss many issues, including a multi-million dollar contract for a voter registration system.

After a scheduling conflict led to a subpoena of Secretary of State Monae Johnson, the GOAC committee finally got some of the answers they’ve been waiting for regarding KNOWiNK LLC and the TotalVote registration system.

GOAC members took particular interest in the cybersecurity of KNOWiNK LLC. As states like Oregon and Pennsylvania have dropped out of their previous contracts.

Currently, 37 states contract with KNOWiNK LLC.

“100 percent secure. I wouldn’t have signed up on it if it wasn’t secure. And it also does testing and they monitor continuously. And we also have a cybersecurity staff that is looking at things every single day,” Johnson told the committee.

Johnson said the Bureau of Technology is thorough in monitoring the TotalVote system and that the state’s work with KNOWiNK, which operates it, is nothing new.

“We have used KNOWiNK since Chris Nelson’s time, and even Secretary Gant went with the TotalVote registration system. So we have had successful work with them for a very long time. And this system is just an upgrade, it’s making it more secure, it’s making it user-friendly,” Johnson said.

The state of South Dakota has a $4.5 million contract to upgrade the TotalVote system, paid for with federal funds.

The system goes live in December.