DENVER The Colorado Secretary of States office on Thursday responded to former President Donald Trumps campaign demands that the state stop the processing of mailed ballots in light of revelations that partial passwords of components of Colorados voting system were published online.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the partial passwords were contained within a spreadsheet posted on the Colorado Secretary of States website.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told Denver7 on Wednesday the civil servant who posted the partial passwords for the voting systems made a serious mistake and was no longer employed with the office, although she did not say if that person was fired.
I can't comment right now on personnel issues, Griswold told Denver7. I think it is a very unfortunate situation that we do take very seriously, and a personnel investigation will be conducted by an outside party to look further into the matter after the election.
The Trump campaign on Thursday demanded the Secretary of States office identify the counties affected by the security breach, notify them, direct them to halt processing of mail ballots, and prepare to re-scan all ballots, a campaign letter stated.
Colorado Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Beall in a response wrote that background-checked state cybersecurity experts would join department staff in counties impacted to update voting system passwords out of an abundance of caution.
Bealls letter reiterated there was no immediate threat to the security of Colorados voting systems or the 2024 General Election but Colorado House Republicans are calling on Griswold to step down from her office.
Secretary of State Jena Griswolds reckless disregard for professional standards and consistent lack of transparency has threatened trust in our democratic system by causing doubt in the security of our election process," said House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese. While I have the utmost trust in the integrity of our county clerks, who actually oversee the counting of votes, I have no trust that Secretary Griswold is capable of leading our election system. Enough of her incompetence; it is time for her to resign. The people of Colorado deserve better.
Griswold told Denver7 she will not resign.
No, I'm not going to resign, Griswold said. A civil servant in the department made a serious mistake that we have actively taken action to remedy. Humans make mistakes. And that's why I've been so focused on adding more layers of security to our elections.
In conjunction with the updating of voting system passwords, Bealls response to Colorado Republicans and the Trump campaign said additional security checks would be performed to ensure machines have not been altered, but those measures were not detailed.
The Department determined that because Colorados voting systems are protected by layers of security and redundancies, no single error can compromise the integrity of the system. These measures are enshrined in statute and the Departments election rules, including multiple layers of password protection, tightly controlled physical access to voting equipment, 24-hour daily video surveillance, among other measures. To reiterate, the security of our voting systems is not endangered, Bealls letter stated.
Also on Thursday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis announced the addition of resources, including air and ground assets along with other support to complete the password updates in Colorado counties.
Polis office said the goal was to finish updating voting system passwords by Thursday evening.
Republicans call for resignation of Colorado Secretary of State following voting system password revelation
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