The Moffat County Clerk & Recorder has confirmed that a statewide password breach that has been resolved did not affect Moffat County. A press release this afternoon says the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office notified the Moffat County Clerk and Recorder that, “the password breach did not affect Moffat County voting equipment.”

 

Here is that Moffat County Press Release/Public Notice at 3:29 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 5.

PUBLIC NOTICE — SECRETARY OF STATE PASSWORD BREACH

In June, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office unintentionally posted voting system passwords to the public-facing website; these system passwords allow access to a computer’s underlying software and firmware. County clerks were made aware of this issue on October 29.

It is important to note that someone cannot use these passwords to access the systems remotely, an individual must have physical access to the equipment, which is under 24/7 video surveillance.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold has posted information regarding the password breach from her office here.

Late that evening of October 29th, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office notified the Moffat County Clerk and Recorder that the password breach did not affect Moffat County voting equipment. However, our office maintains physical security practices, including managed keycard access to voting equipment areas, security seals, and access logs. We have verified all access logs and will continue that practice through Election Day and the Risk-Limiting Audit, canvass, and certification.

“Rest assured, Moffat County election officials take this incident and all election systems and procedures seriously and will continue to closely monitor the situation. I will continue to be vigilant about security of voting as well as transparent and forthcoming about any issues for Colorado voters,” said County Clerk Stacy Morgan.
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Press Release at 2:42 p.m. from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lawsuit Seeking to Decertify Colorado Election Equipment Denied; Security of Voting Systems Affirmed

Denver, Colo. – Today Denver District Court Judge Kandace Gerdes denied the petition in Libertarian Party v. Griswold et al, which sought to require a hand count of all ballots among other disruptive actions.

In dismissing the petition, the District Court judge recognized the Secretary of State has a system of multilayered security measures to secure Colorado elections, including 24/7 video surveillance, key card access to voting equipment with access logs, and tamper-resistant seals on equipment and drop boxes.

Judge Gerdes also found that the Secretary of State independently acted to correct the password disclosure before the case was filed, and took proper action to uphold her duties under Colorado election law.

The judge also found that there is no evidence of compromised voting system components.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold has issued the following statement: 

Colorado’s elections are safe due to the multilayered security measures we have in place. I am glad that the Denver District Court has recognized the actions we took to address the password disclosure. On this Election Day, I encourage Coloradans to make their voices heard.

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