DENVER — Colorado’s Democratic governor said Thursday he is providing state planes and vehicles to help in the event of accidental voting system password changes leaked on a state website.
The error stems from skepticism toward voting systems, even as U.S. elections remain fair and fair across the country trustworthy.
The passwords remained online on a spreadsheet for months, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Tuesday. Now local, state and federal agencies are working together to change the passwords by Thursday evening and analyze log files to ensure no tampering has occurred.
The Colorado County Clerks Association said in a statement that because Colorado’s voting systems have multiple safeguards, and with the recovery plan already in place, “county clerks can say with confidence that Colorado’s elections are secure.”
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign sent a letter to Griswold expressing his concerns, which followed a similar letter from the chairman of the Colorado GOP. Griswold responded in a letter Thursday evening, saying that because of the many levels of security, “no single error can compromise the integrity of the system,” and reiterating that the breach “does not pose an immediate threat.”
Griswold has called Colorado the gold standard for election security, although the leaked spreadsheet is a hiccup in 2022.
Other security measures in Colorado include 24-hour surveillance, badge access and multiple passwords to be used in person and in secure areas – access to which is tracked. Voters in Colorado fill out paper ballots, which are audited after the election.
The voting system is “built with many layers of security to protect against exactly these types of events,” said Matt Crane, the association’s executive director and former Republican county clerk. “Every clerk is taking this issue seriously and remains focused. on delivering the secure and accurate elections Coloradans have come to expect.”
Those charged with changing the compromised passwords work in pairs, under the direct observation of local election officials, according to a statement from Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ office.
“We want to be able to ensure that all votes are counted fairly and accurately for this election and all elections,” Polis said.
“Colorado has numerous layers of security in place to ensure voters’ voices are heard. I am grateful to the Governor for his support in quickly resolving this unfortunate error,” Griswold said.