Colorado Secretary of State Accidentally Reveals Voting System Passwords
They accidentally posted a document on their website that included several passwords for voting systems.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office accidentally revealed voting system passwords online. Authorities acted quickly, but concerns about security remain.
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On Tuesday, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office announced that it had made a mistake. They accidentally posted a document on their website that included several passwords for voting systems. This surprising news raised concerns about the security of the state's elections.
Hope Scheppelman, the Vice Chair of the Colorado Republican Party, shared a file in a mass email. This file contained a hidden tab. An unnamed person claimed they downloaded this Excel file from the state’s website. They said it was easy to read the hidden tab by just clicking “unhide.”
Once the Secretary of State's Office learned about this mistake, they took action right away. They also informed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The officials explained, “The spreadsheet on the Department’s website wrongly included a hidden tab with partial passwords to some Colorado voting systems.”
Jack Todd, a spokesperson for the office, reassured the public. He said, “This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted.” He explained that the passwords were just one layer of security protecting state elections. Each piece of election equipment has two unique passwords. Both can only be used with physical access to a voting system.
Todd added that the systems are secured by video cameras and require special ID badges for access. “It is a felony to access voting equipment without authorization,” he said. This means it is a serious crime to touch the voting machines without permission.
Jena Griswold, the Colorado Secretary of State, played down the situation. She stated, “To be very clear, we do not see this as a full security threat to the state. This is not a security threat.” She also pointed out that the document had been on the government website for several months before people discovered the error.
In response, the Colorado Republican Party expressed concern. They stated that over 600 passwords for voting machines in 63 out of 64 counties were exposed. Dave Williams, the chair of the Colorado GOP, expressed shock. He said, “At best, even if the passwords were outdated, it represents significant incompetence and negligence. It raises huge questions about password management and basic security protocols.”
This incident is particularly worrying as it comes just days before the U.S. presidential election on November 5. Both Republicans and Democrats have accused each other of trying to undermine trust in the election process. They claim that both sides are using illegal methods to influence the election in their favor.