Election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell has had his $500 Wi-Fi monitoring devices banned from Kentucky polling stations.
The MyPillow CEO said he developed the products, which detect and identify Wi-Fi networks, to make elections more secure.
The 2020 election denier claims that the presence of Wi-Fi in voting booths could indicate that votes are being tampered with through machines connected to the internet.
He said he has linked the devices to send information about online routers to a centralized ‘command center’ which notes the location and relays the information back to the user.
But officials in the state warned the devices could lead to unlawful voter identification and that using them at polling stations is likely illegal.
Mike Lindell has had his $500 Wi-Fi monitoring devices banned from Kentucky polling stations.
The MyPillow CEO says the devices can detect and identify Wi-Fi networks and are designed to make elections more secure
They have now unanimously voted to ban the devices amid fears they could be small enough to sneak into voting booths.
‘These devices appear to be nothing more sophisticated, or dangerous, than a simple cell phone, which also can detect a Wi-Fi signal,’ Michon Lindstrom, director of communications for Secretary of State Michael Adams, said in a statement to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
‘The presence of Wi-Fi in a building does not mean that ballot scanners are connected to the internet; state law prohibits that and we do not certify ballot scanners for use if they have any capacity for connectivity.’
Kentucky law means that voting machines are not built with a modem meaning they cannot connect to the internet. However, since many polling stations are located in churches, schools and other public spaces there is Wi-Fi available.
At a meeting of his Election Bureau Crime Summit, Lindell debuted one of his devices strapped to a drone and explained it would catch ‘them’ in ‘every single lie they’ve ever told’.
He told the crowd: ‘This device as it flew into this building, it just grabbed all of your cellphones, everybody that’s in this room, every device that is on the internet right now.’
Kentucky officials have since said that using the Wi-Fi monitoring devices in polling booths is likely a felony punishable by one to five years in jail.
Lindell, a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, has been banned from social media platform X for spreading false claims about voter fraud during the 2020 election.
Kentucky officials unanimously voted to ban the devices amid fears they could lead to unlawful voter identification
Lindell claims the presence of Wi-Fi at polling stations could be evidence votes are being tampered with
He is currently fighting a lawsuit against two voting machines companies Dominion and Smartmatic who claim he defamed them by claiming their machines were involved.
Lindell made his fortune selling bedding to the likes of Walmart and Bed Bath and Beyond, but lost an estimated $100 million when they pulled his products from their shelves following his claims.
Earlier this month he admitted to being ‘broke’ as lawyers in the defamation cases revealed he had not paid any fees since July.
MyPillow raked in $110 million a year in gross sales prior to to the election controversy, but now makes only about $5 million – a staggering 95 percent drop.
The businessman said he was being forced to auction off manufacturing equipment and sublease unused industrial space after distributors tore up distribution deals.