Colorado officials said Friday that the state’s elections are safe after a spreadsheet including a list of passwords used to access voting systems was inadvertently posted on the Secretary of State’s website.

Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Regina O’Brien said the statewide data breach was “disheartening,” but added that multiple scans and verifications indicate the county’s vote scanning remains secure.

The spreadsheet included a list of one of two passwords needed to make any changes to the voting systems, according to Secretary of State Jena Griswold. Passwords for the affected devices have since been changed.

“Colorado has countless layers of security to ensure our elections are free and fair, and every eligible voter should know their vote will be counted as cast,” Griswold said in a news release.

“Everything we could check was checked”

To use the passwords, someone would also have to have physical access to the voting machines. Colorado voting equipment is stored in secure rooms that require an ID badge to gain access, and anyone entering must be authorized or supervised by an authorized and vetted employee. Those rooms are monitored 24/7 with video cameras.

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O’Brien said in Eagle County that the access logs to the room holding the voting machines in Eagle County were pulled on June 1 and there was no unauthorized access.

Additionally, the room is secured with locks and only members of O’Brien’s team have the keys. The room is also under full-time video surveillance, and O’Brien said there have been no gaps.

In terms of technology, there was a “trusted build” of a system in July 2023. That system has a unique set of values. O’Brien’s team ran the metrics and nothing was changed.

“Everything we could check checked,” she said.

In addition, O’Brien spoke with the county’s information technology team, and those individuals confirmed that the appropriate actions were taken.

In addition, the clerk’s office on the night of October 31 changed all system passwords. And as of November 1st, there are 25 different data backups for this election.

O’Brien added that as of Nov. 1, her office had “no direction” on the need to rescan any of the more than 12,600 ballots received as of Oct. 31.

Griswold faces the heat

Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday morning that his office has deployed resources to help the secretary of state secure any affected systems and verify that no settings in any election equipment have been changed. State staff members worked in pairs and were observed by county election officials.

Griswold answered questions during several media interviews since the discovery, which was made public earlier this week by the state Republican Party. She has said multiple times that revealing the password poses no threat to the security of Colorado’s elections.

In an interview with Colorado Public RadioGriswold said the civil servant who was responsible for the error is no longer with their office.

Local and national Republicans heaped criticism on Griswold over the error.

After Colorado House Republicans asked Griswold to resign, she said she would not consider it.

“Absolutely not,” she said in one Wednesday interview with 9News’ Kyle Clark.

Former President Donald Trump the campaign is also demanding that counties whose passwords have been posted for voting equipment begin processing all ballots from the beginning. Griswold responded to that request late Thursday, saying the error posed “no immediate threat to the security of Colorado’s voting systems or the 2024 general election.”

Election day is November 5. Any ballots not yet in the post must be left directly at the polls to ensure they are counted by next Tuesday.

— Scott Miller of Vail Daily contributed reporting.