Officials in Colorado are scrambling Tuesday to identify the source of a spreadsheet posted to the secretary of state’s website that contained partial passwords to the states voting system just a week ahead of Election Day.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s office confirmed to local ABC 7 news on Tuesday that the spreadsheet had been posted on the website but they have yet to identify the source of the of the leak.
The Secretary of State’s office said in a statement to ABC7 “This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted.” They added that the voting system has several layers of security.
The office has notified the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and took swift action when officials were made aware of the spreadsheet, ABC7 reported.
“There are two unique passwords for every election equipment component, which are kept in separate places and held by different parties.
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Passwords can only be used with physical in-person access to a voting system. Under Colorado law, voting equipment must be stored in secure rooms that require a secure ID badge to access.
That ID badge creates an access log that tracks who enters a secure area and when. There is 24/7 video camera recording on all election equipment.
Clerks are required to maintain restricted access to secure ballot areas, and may only share access information with background-checked individuals. No person may be present in a secure area unless they are authorized to do so or are supervised by an authorized and background-checked employee.
There are also strict chain of custody requirements that track when a voting systems component has been accessed and by whom. It is a felony to access voting equipment without authorization,” the statement to ABC7 read.
It is not known at this time when the spreadsheet was posted to the website how the department was made aware of the lapse in security.
The office has notified the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and took swift action when officials were made aware of the spreadsheet, ABC7 reported.
Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold has in the past called Colorado the “gold standard” for election security in the country.
The passwords that were posted are part of a multi-password system needed to access the states voting systems. Nobody would be able to access to the voting systems with just the passwords that were leaked, according to officials within the secretary of state’s office.
Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold has in the past called Colorado the “gold standard” for election security in the country. However, she has been criticized by Republicans in the state as election security has come under increased scrutiny in recent years.
The passwords leaked can only be used in-person and are only only half of the passwords needed to access the system. Colorado law requires that election equipment be stored in secure rooms and surveilled.
Dave Williams, Chairman of the Colorado GOP, sent a letter to the secretary of state demanding that the department confirm that the leaked passwords have been changed.
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Earlier this this month Tina Peters, a former Colorado county clerk, was sentenced to nine years in prison a data-breach scheme based in false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
source: themirror.com/breaking-colorado-secretary-state-office
