Colorado Libertarian party files lawsuit against Secretary of State after partial password were posted online

DENVER (KDVR) — The Libertarian Party of Colorado and James Wiley, a candidate for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, filed a lawsuit Friday against Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Beall after partial passwords for election systems were posted online.

Earlier this week, a spokesperson for the Colorado SOS told FOX31 that the partial passwords were posted in a spreadsheet in a hidden tab of the website. The SOS office said the posting does “not pose an immediate threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted.” Those passwords have since been updated.

Since then, the Colorado Republican Party called on the Secretary of State’s Office to provide a series of assurances and the Trump Campaign sent a letter to the SOS demanding that several counties halt processing mail-in ballots.

Libertarian party requests hearing, investigation

On Friday, the Libertarian party filed a lawsuit requesting a hearing to be held on Monday, Nov. 4, the day before Election Day, according to court documents obtained by FOX31.

The lawsuit also requests the court to order:

• A full and fair investigation by the Attorney General
• All voting systems associated with the password leak be "immediately decommissioned"
• All Colorado ballots be hand-counted by the respective counties
• Temporary Rule 8 CCR 1505-1, Rule 20.5.2(c)(12) is void
• Respondents (Griswond and Beall) desist from promulgating any new rules or regulations concerning the matter until it is resolved
• Respondents (Griswond and Beall) pay for attorney fees and costs of petitioners and any further relief deemed just.
• The SOS and the office be immediately recused from participating in Colorado’s 2024 General Election

Libertarian party accuses SOS of breaching security, changing election rules

According to the court documents, petitioners allege that over 600 BIOS passwords for 63 of Colorado's 64 counties were removed from the website by the SOS on Thursday, Oct. 24. Petitioners claim that the SOS notified the affected counties on Tuesday, Oct. 29 after the security breach was published by a third party.

The petitioners allege that the passwords were accessible on the SOS website since at least June, prior to Colorado's Primary Elections. According to the petitioners, those passwords would allow a person to access and manipulate a county's voting system and database.

The petitioners allege that on Thursday, Oct. 31, Beall issued New Emergency Rule 20.5.2(c)(12), an emergency, temporary voting rule change allowing the SOS to change the passwords. The petitioners said Beall does not have the authority to make or change election rules and requested that the temporary rule be voided.

"This would allow employees or designees of the Secretary to access Colorado’s voting
systems literally days before the General Election to change the system’s configuration after certification," the lawsuit alleges.

SOS says passwords were changed out of precaution

On Friday, the Secretary of State announced that the passwords were changed Thursday night. The SOS maintains that the passwords posted never posed an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections and were changed out of precaution.

“The passwords that were improperly disclosed were one of two passwords to make changes to these particular voting system components and can only be used with in-person physical access to that specific machine,” the Secretary of State said in a press release.

The lawsuit states that petitioners believe changing the passwords and conducting a new Trusted Build as requested by the Trump Campaign is not enough.

The full lawsuit document with details on accusations can be found on the Colorado Libertarian Party website.

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