An investigation into Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold is officially underway after passwords for election machines in several counties were published online for months without notice.
On Friday, the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office announced it received two signed affidavits alleging violations of CRS 1-13-708, or tampering with voting equipment. Allegations of election law violations require an investigation in accordance with state law.
In the news release, 4th Judicial District said that based on the information currently available, the publication of the passwords originated in the Secretary of State's Denver-based office.
The 2nd Judicial District Attorney's Office in Denver is actively investigating the incident, and 4th Judicial District plans to review their materials to determine if further investigation is necessary, and which organization is best suited to handle it if so.
The security breach was brought to the public's attention Oct. 29 by the Colorado Republican Party in a file posted to the Secretary of State's Office website. Griswold said a person in her office posted an online spreadsheet that "improperly" included voting equipment passwords.
According to Gazette news partner 9News, the passwords were visible for months in a hidden tab of a spreadsheet posted on the Secretary of State's Office website that lists voting machines used by county clerks by serial number, county, model and vendor.
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When unhidden, the tab showed one of two passwords necessary to make changes in each computer.
Passwords for election machines in El Paso County were impacted, and the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder, Steve Schleiker, said he was 'prepared to ask' for Griswold's resignation in the days following the news. Several other officials across the state have also asked for her resignation.
"Right now (what) I'm looking (at) as a clerk and recorder is the competency level, the lack of leadership in the secretary of state, and I am sitting here and prepared to ask for her resignation as the El Paso County clerk and recorder," Schleiker said while appearing on KVOR's Richard Randall Show on Oct. 31.
According to prior Gazette reporting, a few days after the news broke, the Secretary of State's Office announced it would be modifying election rules to allow a background-checked employee with cybersecurity experience to change the passwords on an emergency basis. The designated employee may also "investigate the voting system," according to the new rule.
Schleiker confirmed that a Secretary of State's Office employee as well as two local clerk's office employees changed the passwords on El Paso County voting machines at the Clerk and Recorder's Office Oct. 31. He said that the process was observed by a bipartisan panel of two Republican and two Democratic election judges.
Gazette reporter Savannah Eller contributed to this report.
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