Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has faced criticism for posting a worksheet with voting system passwords online. Griswold has previously attempted to remove previous president Donald Trump from the 2024 vote over allegations that he allegedly organized an uprising following the 2020 presidential vote.
Colorado Republican Party Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman, according to an oath from a person who claimed they downloaded the Excel spreadsheet report from the secretary of state’s site and discovered that the secretary’s site had hidden voting system passwords in a hidden button. The affidavit stated that the passwords may be viewed online by selecting the “unhide” solution.
In a speech to 9 Media, a Colorado Secretary of State’s Office spokesperson said,” The Department is working to cure this position where required”. The Department informed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency ( CISA ), which closely monitors and safeguards the county’s crucial security infrastructure, right away, according to the spokesperson.
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The credentials that were included in the virtual spreadsheet are used to set up the voting machines ‘ system settings, according to 9 News.
A Colorado Secretary of State’s Office director told 9 News that “every election equipment part” requires” two distinct credentials” and that the passwords are stored in different areas. The spokesperson added that if someone has “physical in-person entry” to one of the country’s voting systems, the usernames can only be used.
Addressing the new password event, Griswold told 9 News,” To be very obvious, we do not see this as a complete security threat to the state. This is not a safety risk. There are two credentials to get into any election part, along with natural entry”.
Griswold added,” We have pieces of safety, and out of just an abundance of prudence, have employees in the field changing credentials, looking at access files and looking at the overall situation and continuing our analysis”.
Griswold confirmed to 9 News that the election system password-containing calculator had been stored on the government’s website for a number of times before being discovered. Additionally, according to the report, the secretary of state failed to inform county clerks about the password problem.
Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams stated to Fox 31 that he and Secretary Griswold and Governor Polis consistently claimed that they represent the” Gold Standard” for election integrity and that they are a model for the rest of the country. One can only hope that the Secretary of State’s posting of our most vulnerable credentials online to the earth dispels that myth.
