Updated at 16:18, 31 October 2024

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is demanding that Colorado counties whose voting machine passwords were exposed online rescan all ballots that have been processed so far.

This comes after the Colorado Secretary of State’s office confirmed that a spreadsheet posted for months on the department’s website included a hidden tab listing BIOS passwords for voting machines. Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold said a preliminary investigation indicates the post was an accident and does not pose an immediate security threat.

Still, the Trump campaign wants counties to reset their machines and start over processing ballots.

“The Secretary of State must immediately identify the counties affected by the security breach, notify them, direct them to stop processing mail-in ballots, and prepare to rescan all ballots,” a statement from press of the Trump-Vance campaign.

Under Colorado law, counties can open and scan ballots as they are received, but don’t record the results until 7 p.m. on election night. Over 1.5 million ballots have already been scanned for this statewide election.

The Colorado campaign attorney sent a letter to Griswold on Thursday warning that the password information could have affected the voting machine software update earlier this year.

“As you know, anyone with the current BIOS passwords and access to the affected election systems would have the ability to change the trust configuration of those systems without leaving any signs of software tampering,” said attorney Scott Gessler, a former Colorado. Republican Secretary of State.

Griswold said the passwords posted online were “partial” and not sufficient on their own to access the machines’ operating systems, which also require physical in-person access. Counties require background checks, key card access and limit the number of employees who can be near the tabbing machines, which are under 24-7 video surveillance.

“We have people on the ground working to reset passwords and review access logs for the affected counties,” Griswold told CPR News on Wednesday. “This is out of an abundance of caution; we do not believe there is a threat to the Colorado election.”

Griswold said all indications suggest the passwords were accidentally posted. CPR News has learned from a source familiar with the investigation that the spreadsheet was created by someone who has since left the office and posted by an employee who was unaware of the hidden tab.

Gov. Jared Polis said his office is providing additional resources to help change BIOS passwords, including “human capital, air and ground assets and other logistical support to complete changes to all affected passwords and review logs to ensure that no no change has occurred. “

The Secretary of State’s office passed an emergency election rule so it could appoint background-checked cybersecurity experts working in other parts of state government to help change voting system passwords.

Polis said the goal is to change the required passwords as quickly as possible with minimal impact on vote counting operations.

“We want to be able to provide assurances that all votes are counted correctly and accurately for this and all elections, and we are grateful for the work of the county clerks in overseeing this process with the support of the state,” Governor Polis said in a written statement.

The Colorado Republican Party first alerted the public to the passwords posted in a mass email on Tuesday. Although the state was already aware of the situation, officials were not told until after the email was sent. Election officials interviewed by CPR said that because of the range of safeguards currently in place, they are confident that the state’s election systems remain secure.

The two companies that make the voting equipment in Colorado, Dominion Voting Systems and Clear Ballot, also said the situation does not pose a direct security risk and that the BIOS password is just one of many controls needed to maintain the security and integrity of the voting system. components.

Colorado Republicans are demanding more transparency into what happened and who is responsible for posting the hidden tab and whether the posting was intentional. On Thursday, state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle formally called for an emergency meeting of the legislature’s bipartisan audit committee to look into the matter. Van Winkle is a member of the committee, which is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats.

“With the election less than a week away, the LAC (Legislative Audit Committee) may be the only place available to independently and quickly determine whether our election systems have ever been compromised, to drive corrective action, or simply to serve as a platform to inform and reassure the public that our state’s voting systems are secure,” Van Winkle wrote in a letter to the committee’s chairwoman, Republican Rep. Lisa Frizell.

In order to convene such a hearing, a majority vote of the commission will be needed. Audit committee members, in a bipartisan vote in 2021, stripped the committee’s chairman of the ability to unilaterally convene hearings after a former chairman used his convening power. a meeting that calls into question Colorado’s electoral integrity.

Frizell said it’s not the only letter he’s seen asking for action; “There are a lot of other concerns unrelated to this incident.” She said the secretary of state’s office has had systemic problems in recent years.

“This begins to undermine the confidence of our Colorado citizens in our voting standards. I think these are reasonable concerns and the voters of Colorado deserve answers.”

Frizell said he is creating his own request for a more comprehensive audit beyond what Van Winkle requested and will present it to the committee before the end of the year.

Republican House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese told CPR News she has no doubt there will be an audit. She and other House Republicans are calling on Griswold to resign.

“We’re really focused on Jena and the failure of the secretary of state in her office,” Pugliese said. “People deserve better.”

A committee Democrat said he had not yet seen the audit request.

“As with any audit, I would need to see the letter from the requesting individuals to better understand the scope and focus of what will be audited,” said Democratic Representative Andrew Boesenecker, the committee’s vice chairman.

When asked by CPR News if there should be an audit, Griswold didn’t answer directly, but said there would be an investigation.

“A staff investigation will be conducted by an outside party to look at the details of how this happened and continue to sort it out,” she said.

Democratic incumbent Molly Fitzpatrick is the current president of the Colorado County Clerks Association. She said transparency will continue to be extremely important going forward.

“I think the public deserves to know what happened, but now we just have to sort it out and make sure people know the impact as a voter. And that’s what we’re trying to catch up to now, is the communications front.”