Password of US presidential voting system in Colorado state leaked

TPO - Voting system passwords were mistakenly posted on the Colorado Secretary of State's website for several months before being discovered and taken down, AP reported on October 30.

But the error does not pose an immediate threat to the upcoming US presidential election, state election officials said on October 29. Colorado Secretary of State spokesman Jack Todd said the password was one of two needed to access any part of the state's voting system, and was part of a multi-layered security system. "The two passwords are kept in different locations and by different parties," Todd said. "This is not a security threat," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in an interview with 9News on October 29 evening. Griswold said her office is investigating; not all of the passwords in the spreadsheet are active, and there is no reason to believe a security breach occurred. Staff are changing passwords, checking access logs and chain-of-custody logs, she said. Griswold has frequently said that Colorado is the gold standard for election security, despite some glitches in the past.

Lộ mật khẩu hệ thống bỏ phiếu bầu tổng thống Mỹ ở bang Colorado

Voter stickers are placed on a ballot box at a polling station on October 25, 2024, in Washington Park in Denver, Colorado, USA. Photo: AP.

The password leak has drawn criticism from the chairman of the Colorado Republican Party at a time when the U.S. election system is under intense scrutiny, even though U.S. elections remain trustworthy. Colorado law requires voting equipment to be monitored and stored in secure rooms — access is protected, monitored, and recorded. Colorado voters fill out paper ballots, which are audited after the election. Election officials discovered last week that the spreadsheet containing the passwords in a hidden tab had appeared online. As soon as the error was discovered, Todd said they took immediate action and notified the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Colorado Secretary of State Association CEO Matt Crane told 9News that while the error was concerning, the association was pleased with the Colorado Secretary of State’s response. Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams sent a letter asking the Secretary of State’s Office to confirm that the exposed passwords had been changed.