Colorado voting machine passwords updated after accidental leak

by Junna Base November 5, 2024

Election workers in Colorado traveled across the state last week to update voting machine logins after their secret passwords were accidentally published online for several months.

State officials said they were confident no one had tampered with the machines after the password breach was discovered and that voting was secure. But they were still scrambling to fix the leak, which was discovered on Oct. 24.

“Colorado elections are secure and Coloradans will have their voices heard on Election Day,” Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement Monday. “I regret this mistake. I am committed to ensuring that we address this matter comprehensively and that mistakes like this never happen again.”

Passwords for voting systems in Colorado were exposed beginning June 21, when a spreadsheet on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website contained “partial passwords for certain components of voting systems in Colorado.”

According to a Nov. 4 news release from the Colorado Department of State, the flaw went unnoticed until Oct. 24 and the machines were not compromised by the leak because the passwords were one of several layers of security. “No settings were changed on the affected active voting machines,” the state confirmed after updating the password on machines in 34 of Colorado’s 64 counties.

Former President Donald Trump issued a statement last week calling on the secretary of state to identify and notify counties affected by the breach.

To change the passwords, Gov. Jared Polis and Griswold announced last week that they would provide 30 employees, aircraft and vehicles and other support.

Voting equipment will be stored in rooms that require ID and will be videotaped 24 hours a day. The state employees who worked to update the passwords also “worked in pairs and were observed by county election officials,” the release said. “The passwords that were improperly disclosed were one of two passwords needed in combination to make changes to a voting system and can only be used with personal physical access.”

Despite the assurances, the Libertarian Party of Colorado filed a lawsuit against the secretary of state, KOAA5 reported.

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