NEW BRUNSWICK (UPDATE) COMPUTERS STOLEN  http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/06/18/19889941.html

Laptops stolen from Elections NB

By Sheena Goodyear, QMI Agency 

Two laptops stolen from an Elections New Brunswick office, including one containing sensitive voter data, were just part of a "snatch and grab," the provincial agency says.

"This was a crime of opportunity," spokesman Paul Harpelle said.

The computers — one of which contains personal information about every eligible voter in New Brunswick — were nabbed Friday night from an office down the hall from Elections New Brunswick in Fredericton.

According to Harpelle, the crime scene was a previously vacant office being used by Bell Canada contractors working on voter software for the agency. The office had no markings to indicate it belongs to Elections New Brunswick, he said.

"They stole a nice pair of headsets that belonged to one of the Bell Canada employees and they took his coffee money," Harpelle said. "This was just a snatch and grab."

Another government laptop was stolen that same night from an office down the street, Harpelle said. He wouldn't say which government department owns the third computer. Police were also tight-lipped on the subject.

Fredericton police are investigating the thefts and have released surveillance footage of a white man with a backpack and a baseball cap breaking into the Elections New Brunswick office.

Cops asked the public to help identify the suspect in the video.

A police spokeswoman said it's not known whether the suspect was attempting to go after the sensitive voter information.

These thefts come on the heels of a major privacy breach at Elections New Brunswick in May, when computer discs containing private information about voters were distributed to the province's political parties.

The government says the discs, which contain phone numbers and driver's licences, were sent out in error.