{"id":2361712,"date":"2024-10-30T15:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T19:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/co-secretary-of-state-posts-voting-passwords-online\/"},"modified":"2024-10-30T15:54:44","modified_gmt":"2024-10-30T19:54:44","slug":"co-secretary-of-state-posts-voting-passwords-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/co-secretary-of-state-posts-voting-passwords-online\/","title":{"rendered":"CO Secretary Of State Posts Voting Passwords Online"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fco-secretary-of-state-posts-voting-passwords-online%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2361712&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Colorado Secretary of State&#8217;s \u200cOffice mistakenly published passwords to statewide voting systems online, revealing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-blames-bidens-weakness-and-surrender-for-deadly-militia-attack\/\" title=\"Trump accuses Biden of being weak and surrendering, leading to a deadly militia attack\">significant security breach<\/a>. The Colorado Republican Party, which discovered this issue, is\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/family-of-girl-allegedly-killed-by-rayshard-brooks-protesters-sue-democrat-mayor-leaders-allowed-armed-vigilantes-rioting\/\" title=\"Family Of Girl Allegedly Killed By Rayshard Brooks Protesters Sue Democrat Mayor: Leaders Allowed \u2018Armed Vigilantes,\u2019 Rioting \u00a0\">seeking accountability<\/a> from Secretary of State Jena Griswold&#8217;s\u2062 office. An Excel\u2062 file\u200d containing about 600 &#8220;hidden&#8221; \u2062passwords for \u2063voting\u200b systems\u200d in various counties was made accessible, and anyone could unhide and view this sensitive information.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the ongoing voting period with over 1.27 million ballots already cast, Griswold&#8217;s \u2063office claimed that this breach does not pose an immediate threat to election security and that the passwords are only valid for in-person use. However,\u200c the Colorado GOP counters that access could still be gained by anyone with physical access to the voting systems, including county clerks \u200band third-party vendors.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado GOP is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hundreds-of-cute-small-animals-adopted-by-arizona-group-but-joy-turns-to-horror-when-humane-society-realizes-what-its-job-is\/\" title=\"Hundreds of Cute Small Animals Adopted by Arizona Group, But Joy Turns to Horror When Humane Society Realizes What Its Job Is\">demanding legal action<\/a> and an emergency audit, claiming\u200b that the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">posted passwords violated state election rules<\/a>. In an email, \u2062the party requested \u200dassurances regarding the integrity of the election systems and threatened to decertify any election machines associated with the leaked passwords if proper responses are not provided. Griswold\u2019s office maintains \u200cthat security measures \u2062are in\u2062 place, including secure storage and\u200b surveillance of \u2063voting systems.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Colorado Secretary of State&rsquo;s Office posted passwords to statewide voting systems online for anyone to access. The Colorado Republican Party, which uncovered the security breach, is seeking accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The office of Democrat Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who tried but <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/23\/trump-hating-colorado-secretary-of-state-loses-another-election-integrity-battle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">failed<\/a> to kick former President Donald Trump off the ballot, posted an Excel file online with a &ldquo;hidden&rdquo; page of 600 passwords to voting systems in every county but one, according to an email the Colorado GOP sent on Tuesday. Anyone could &ldquo;unhide&rdquo; the page and view the passwords.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, the Colorado GOP said it is seeking &ldquo;legal relief in the courts&rdquo; and calling on state lawmakers for an emergency audit, saying Griswold engaged in a &ldquo;cover-up.&rdquo; Colorado voting is already <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/newsRoom\/pressReleases\/2024\/PR20241029BallotReturns.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">underway<\/a>, according to the secretary&rsquo;s website, with more than 1.27 million votes already cast.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado&rsquo;s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted,&rdquo; Griswold&rsquo;s office claimed in a press <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/newsRoom\/pressReleases\/2024\/PR20241029Passwords.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The secretary leaked &ldquo;BIOS&rdquo; or &ldquo;Basic Input\/Output System&rdquo; passwords, which &ldquo;prevent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asus.com\/support\/faq\/1046347\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unauthorized access<\/a> when the computer is booting.&rdquo; This violates state election <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/rule_making\/CurrentRules\/8CCR1505-1\/Rule20.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rules<\/a>, which dictate that &ldquo;civil servants at the Department of State will securely and confidentially maintain all BIOS passwords for voting system components.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Griswold&rsquo;s office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/newsRoom\/pressReleases\/2024\/PR20241029Passwords.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> passwords can only be used in person and that &ldquo;every election equipment component&rdquo; requires two passwords &mdash; though the Colorado GOP said &ldquo;this is not true for the BIOS.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We do not see this as a full security threat to the state. This is not a security threat,&rdquo; Griswold <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NLi-0WI-f7M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> to KUSA.<\/p>\n<p>Griswold initially told the outlet her office only released &ldquo;partial passwords,&rdquo; but when pressed, she admitted it leaked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NLi-0WI-f7M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">entire<\/a> passwords. She said the state has &ldquo;staff in the field changing passwords&rdquo; and checking access logs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But county clerks, employees, and third-party vendors with physical access to voting systems could have gotten the passwords, according to a Colorado GOP in a release on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Confidential passwords were leaked to individuals with physical access. That is all anyone needs to know,&rdquo; reads the release. &ldquo;It demands more than a press release.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The party published an affidavit on Tuesday stating that an individual had accessed the data multiple times from August to October, through an Excel file called &ldquo;VotingSystemInventory&rdquo; posted to the secretary&rsquo;s website. After downloading the file, this user selected &ldquo;unhide,&rdquo; which revealed pages of BIOS passwords for every county except rural Las Animas County.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<figure><figcaption>\n<div>\n<p>An affidavit describing the security breach. Courtesy Colorado GOP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Seeking Accountability<\/h2>\n<p>The Colorado GOP sent an email on Tuesday outlining the issue. It said an &ldquo;unnamed official&rdquo; had &ldquo;discretely removed&rdquo; the publicly available passwords on Oct. 24. The passwords were &ldquo;available for public consumption,&rdquo; and the file was online &ldquo;at least since August.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We hear all the time in Colorado from Secretary Griswold and Governor [Jared] Polis that we represent the &lsquo;Gold Standard&rsquo; for election integrity, a model for the nation,&rdquo; said Dave Williams, Colorado Republican Party chairman, in the release. &ldquo;One can only hope that &hellip; the Secretary of State posting our most sensitive passwords online to the world dispels that myth.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The email included a letter the party sent Griswold&rsquo;s office on Tuesday, demanding she respond to its questions within 24 hours.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It goes without saying how significant this is,&rdquo; reads the letter. &ldquo;We can only imagine that, since the discovery last week, you and your staff have been working tirelessly to remedy these vulnerabilities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado GOP asked Griswold to confirm the following: that election systems were not &ldquo;accessed physically or remotely by any unauthorized person,&rdquo; that &ldquo;passwords have since been changed or were otherwise not current at any point while made public,&rdquo; that new passwords meet &ldquo;best practices&rdquo; for security, that systems are on the latest software, and that systems meet standards for a &ldquo;trusted build,&rdquo; i.e., a secure system. The party also asked for a list of steps to fix vulnerabilities with estimated completion dates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are confident that you understand the critical nature of having released these &lsquo;skeleton key&rsquo; passwords to the world,&rdquo; the party wrote. &ldquo;As such, we fully expect that you will gladly and forthrightly provide us with all that we are asking.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>If Griswold does not offer proper assurances, the party said it is prepared to tell county officials to &ldquo;decertify any election machines with a password on the released list&rdquo; and make the secretary &ldquo;secure the elections, as required by law.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Griswold&rsquo;s office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sos.state.co.us\/pubs\/newsRoom\/pressReleases\/2024\/PR20241029Passwords.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> in her release yesterday that voting systems are stored in secure areas under surveillance and that &ldquo;chain of custody&rdquo; requirements track access. The office reported the issue to the Department of Homeland Security&rsquo;s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which supposedly ensures infrastructure security but is also the federal government&rsquo;s online <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/why-cisas-censorship-and-election-interference-work-is-the-most-insidious-attack-on-american-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censorship<\/a> hub.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The secretary&rsquo;s office claimed it is &ldquo;working to remedy this situation where necessary,&rdquo; but did not go into specifics.<\/p>\n<p>The Colorado GOP responded on Wednesday to Griswold&rsquo;s release and appearances in local <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NLi-0WI-f7M\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">media<\/a>, raising several concerns, including the fact that &ldquo;numerous individuals&rdquo; unauthorized for BIOS access have physical access to voting systems.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;How is she able to assure the public that none of these hundreds or thousands of individuals accessed the BIOS over that large amount of time?&rdquo; the party wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Just last week, Griswold held a press conference about voter fraud in Mesa County, according to KUSA. There, she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.9news.com\/article\/news\/politics\/elections\/colorado-secretary-of-state-posted-voting-system-passwords\/73-c9264216-7a0a-4d5b-9f64-60a28eb57e4d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claimed<\/a> there was &ldquo;no reason to believe that there are any security breaches or compromises in the state of Colorado.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist reached out to the Colorado GOP and Griswold&rsquo;s office but did not receive a comment in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>electionbriefing.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Colorado Secretary of State&#8217;s Office leaked voting system passwords online; GOP seeks accountability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2361713,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3221952624_e9fa22f34e_k-e1673547501268.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[44032,32644,44034,44033],"class_list":["post-2361712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-co-secretary-of-state","tag-election-integrity","tag-online-security","tag-voting-passwords"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/3221952624_e9fa22f34e_k-e1673547501268.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2361712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2361713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2361712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2361712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2361712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}