Colorado's Secretary of State made a mistake by publicly sharing some election equipment passwords on their website.

The Colorado Secretary of State's office made an announcement on Tuesday regarding a spreadsheet that was posted on their website, which contained partial passwords to certain parts of the state's voting systems. The Colorado Republican Party was the first to bring attention to this incident through a news release, including an affidavit that supported their claim. The name of the person who signed the affidavit was not disclosed. According to the affidavit, it was discovered that the website contained a publicly available spreadsheet that listed all the voting systems used in the state.

Upon further inspection, it was found that the spreadsheet had hidden tabs that revealed the passwords to some of the voting system components. Concerned about the security of the state's elections, GOP Chair Dave Williams wrote a letter to Secretary of State Jena Griswold, requesting confirmation that the passwords have been changed and other security protocols have been met. He also mentioned the possibility of decertifying any election machines that had passwords on the released list, if necessary assurances were not provided.

Williams described the leak as "shocking" and a clear indication of "significant incompetence and negligence". Griswold, who has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump and election conspiracies, has been a target of Republican criticism for a long time. In response to the incident, an unsigned news release from Griswold's office stated that the leak did not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado's elections and would not impact how ballots are counted.

The news release also mentioned that all election equipment has two unique passwords that are kept by different individuals. These passwords can only be used with in-person access to the equipment. Furthermore, under Colorado law, voting equipment must be stored in secure rooms that require ID badges for access and are under 24/7 video surveillance. The release also emphasized that all Colorado votes are cast on paper ballots and are subject to a post-election audit to ensure their accuracy.

The department also acted promptly and contacted the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as soon as they became aware of the leak. They are currently taking steps to address the issue and ensure the security of the state's elections. This incident comes just a week after Griswold held a press conference to announce the foiling of a voter fraud scheme in Mesa County, where a few stolen ballots had been fraudulently cast.

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