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Stickers for voters sit in a roll on a ballot box at a voting drop-off location Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Washington Park in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado accidentally put voting system passwords online, but officials say election is secure

The Colorado Secretary of State's office says voting system passwords were mistakenly put on the department's website

By JESSE BEDAYN
Published - Oct 29, 2024, 09:16 PM ET
Last Updated - Dec 16, 2024, 05:52 PM EST

DENVER (AP) — Voting system passwords were mistakenly put on the Colorado Secretary of State's website for several months before being spotted and taken down, but the lapse did not pose an immediate threat to the upcoming election, said state election officials Tuesday.

The passwords were only one of two that are needed to access any component of Colorado's voting systems, and are just one part of a layered security system, said Jack Todd, spokesperson for the the Secretary of State’s office, in a statement. The two passwords are “kept in separate places and held by different parties,” he said.

“This is not a security threat,” said Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in an interview on 9News Tuesday evening. She said her office is investigating, that not all of the passwords in the spreadsheet were active and there is no reason to believe there’s been a security breach.

Griswold said workers are changing passwords, looking at access logs and chain of custody books.

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