News/Commentary

Voting machine passwords leaked, local reporter does what Americans have been BEGGING for!

October 31, 2024 | | Print Article

Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold was blasted for her “entitled” response when asked if she should resign.

While the Democrat was roasted online for her office’s blunder in leaking voting system passwords, KUSA-TV Next9 News reporter Kyle Clark was applauded for his direct questions on her accountability.

The fallout comes after the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office exposed voting system passwords known as BIOS passwords when it inadvertently posted a spreadsheet on its website that included a hidden tab.

“On Tuesday morning, Colorado Republican Party Vice Chair Hope Scheppelman shared the hidden tab discovery in a mass email, along with an affidavit from someone who claims they had downloaded the Excel file from the Colorado Secretary of State’s website and discovered the hidden tab by simply clicking ‘unhide. The name on the affidavit was blacked out in the Republican Party email,” KUSA reported.

(Video Credit: Next9 News)

A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office told the outlet that “the Department is working to remedy this situation where necessary.”

“The Department took immediate action as soon as it was aware of this and informed the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), which closely monitors and protects the county’s essential security infrastructure,” the spokesperson said. “There are two unique passwords for every election equipment component, 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.”

In an interview with KUSA on Tuesday, Griswold seemed to skirt directly answering questions by Clark on the ramifications of the security breach.

“So, your office is acknowledging that you inadvertently leaked voting system passwords by putting them on your website. The Colorado Republican Party says that this was more than 600 BIOS passwords for voting systems in all but one Colorado County. Is that accurate?” Clark asked.

“That is not accurate,” Griswold replied.

“How many passwords and for which counties?” the anchor pressed.

“A spreadsheet located on the Department website improperly had a hidden tab with partial passwords,” the Democrat responded. “It’s really important to note that this is not the full password to access voting equipment. At this point, we have started an investigation and actually have people in the field working on this issue.”

“When you say partial passwords, do you mean that it had one of the two passwords required to get into the system, or did it not even have one full password?” Clark asked.

“It had one of the two, and not for all voting components, only some in the state,” Griswold said, as Clark pressed, “How many counties?”

“At this point, Kyle, we have staff in the field looking into this situation, but we’ll disclose specifics after they’re out of the field,” she replied. “To be clear, we do not see this as a full security threat. There are two passwords required for any voting component, along with physical access. We have layers of security, and, out of an abundance of caution, have staff in the field changing passwords, reviewing access logs, and continuing our investigation.”

She added that they “were up for several months without it being noticed.”

“As soon as my office became aware, we took immediate action. The first step was removing those passwords. I want to clarify, not all of those passwords were active, current passwords. We then began working with CISA, the federal agency overseeing critical infrastructure, including election infrastructure, and started our investigation,” Griswold said, adding that she had not informed the county clerks.

“We were conducting an investigation and were in the field today before the announcement by the Republican Party,” she said.

The brutal interview continued, culminating in Clark asking the secretary of state a direct question.

“This isn’t the first error your office has made that has impacted voters’ confidence in elections. Will you resign?” he asked.

“Absolutely not,” Griswold replied. “You’re mischaracterizing the situation. We addressed the 2022 postcard issue and tracked it carefully. No ineligible people registered, and Colorado consistently ranks high in election confidence. I’m proud of the work we do, and we’re addressing this issue with an abundance of caution.”

Social media users roasted Griswold on X:

Frieda Powers
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