Colorado voting system passwords were posted online: secretary of state

"This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted," the Colorado state department said.

By Natalia Mittelstadt

Published: October 30, 2024 1:38pm

Voting systems passwords were accidentally posted online, according to the Colorado secretary of state's office.

A spreadsheet with the "partial passwords to certain components of Colorado voting systems" was posted on the Colorado Department of State's website, the office announced Tuesday.

"This does not pose an immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted," the department added.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said that her office is investigating and workers are changing passwords.

Election equipment components all have two unique passwords "which are kept in separate places and held by different parties. Passwords can only be used with physical in-person access to a voting system," according to the secretary of state's office. Voting equipment must be stored in secure rooms that require an ID badge to access them.

Colorado voters cast paper ballots that are "audited during the Risk Limiting Audit to verify that ballots were counted according to voter intent," the department said.

"The Department took immediate action as soon as it was aware of this, and informed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which closely monitors and protects the county’s essential security infrastructure. The Department is working to remedy this situation where necessary."