Democratic Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold admitted that “partial passwords” for the state’s voting systems were exposed online.
The passwords were publically accessible for months before being removed following Republican involvement in the matter.
More than 600 BIOS passwords for voting components in 63 out of the state’s 64 counties were shared in a file on Griswold’s website.
“BIOS passwords are highly confidential, allowing broad access for knowledgeable users to fundamentally manipulate systems and data and to remove any trace of doing so,” the Colorado GOP said.
Dave Williams, Chairman of the Republican Party of Colorado, said in a statement, “We hear all the time in Colorado from Secretary Griswold and Governor Polis that we represent the ‘Gold Standard’ for election integrity, a model for the nation. One can only hope that by the Secretary of State posting our most sensitive passwords online to the world dispels that myth.”
Griswold told 9News that her office does not view the situation as a “full security threat to the state.
“There are two passwords to get into any voting component, along with physical access,” she added. “We have layers of security, and out of just an abundance of caution, have staff in the field changing passwords, looking at access logs and looking at the entire situation and continuing our investigation.”
Colorado’s Republican leaders have demanded that Griswold resign from her position over the matter.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) wrote on social media, “Jena Griswold was made aware of the leaked passwords on October 24th. She didn’t change those leaked passwords until [October 30] when the story became public. This is the same woman who supported keeping Trump off the ballot in Colorado. She not only needs to resign, she needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
The state’s House Minority Leader, Rose Pugliese (R), said, as reported by Colorado Politics, “While I have the utmost trust in the integrity of our county clerks, who actually oversee the counting of votes, I have no trust that Secretary Griswold is capable of leading our election system. Enough of her incompetence; it is time for her to resign. The people of Colorado deserve better.”
Griswold told journalist Kyle Clark that she would not resign.
