Secretary Griswold says the employee responsible for releasing voting machine passwords has disappeared

A mistake in the secretary of state's office that published confidential passwords online shouldn't shake voters' trust, says Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The secretary of state's office said the information, which appeared in a hidden tab on the Internet, contained only half the passwords needed and would not be enough to access sensitive voter systems.

Griswold said the mistake was made by an “official” in the secretary of state’s office who no longer works there.

“Ultimately, an officer made a serious mistake and we are actively working to correct it,” Griswold said. “People make mistakes.”

Griswold spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner about the fallout from the news and what comes next.

Editor's Note: This interview transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Ryan Warner: Your office says there is no threat to election security because these passwords were online and that other security measures are in place. How about a loss of trust among people?

Jena Griswold: Well, I think situations like this are exactly why we have so many layers of security behind elections in Colorado, and it's important to really understand the situation.

A spreadsheet located on the department's website was posted in error and contained a hidden tab that partially contained passwords for certain components of Colorado's voting equipment. Now, we don't believe there is an immediate security threat to Colorado's elections, in part because incomplete passwords don't help. Each voting equipment component requires two unique passwords. Physical access is required. And under Colorado law, voting machines are kept in secure rooms that require secure IDs. There are video cameras around the clock. There is restricted access to secure voting areas, a strict chain of custody and unauthorized access to voting machines is a criminal offence.

Warner: You say a table was posted incorrectly. Who is ultimately responsible for this and what does responsibility look like to you?

Griswold: An official made this mistake by mistake. Out of an abundance of caution, we have on-site staff working to reset passwords and review access logs for affected counties. The employee responsible for the hidden tabs in the spreadsheet is no longer working with the department and we are doing everything we can to, of course, reassure the public and work with the counties. And this is also done out of great caution. We do not believe there is a security threat to Colorado's elections.

Warner: There are Republicans in the House, as well as Republican Congresswoman Lauren Bobert, who are calling for your resignation. You told 9News you would not be resigning. Why doesn't it rise to that level?

Griswold: Well, House Republicans and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert are the same people who have spread conspiracies and lies about our election systems over and over again.

Ultimately, an officer made a serious mistake and we are actively working to correct it. People make mistakes. That's exactly why I've passed important legislation to make our voting process even more secure and ensure that no error jeopardizes our voting systems. Since taking office, I have been subjected to violent threats. I have faced conspiracy theories from elected Republicans in this state and I have not let their efforts stop me and I will continue to do my job.

Warner: Is there a pattern to your failure at this job?

Griswold: Absolutely not. I take my job very seriously. We take election administration very seriously. Finally, I think it is very important to emphasize that overall the people in my office have done a really good job in this difficult situation. Because of the lies, conspiracies and threats, we have 38 percent new county clerks in the state of Colorado. Lawmakers have consistently rejected increased funding for my office. People are working around the clock to make elections happen and honestly, we did it. Despite all the lies in the conspiracies we see in previous elections since 2020, over 98 percent of Coloradans across the political spectrum are choosing to use their mail-in ballot. We have a remarkably high level of self-confidence. Over the summer, Colorado tied for first place in confidence in our polls. Situations happen during elections. There are 64 counties. We want everything to go really, really well. And God forbid, we never want any of our employees to make a mistake. But in elections it depends on how you deal with it.

Warner: And to be clear, you became aware of this because the Republican press release came to your office, the state Republican?

Griswold: No, that's not correct.

Warner: How did you become aware of it?

Griswold: We found out about it late last week. We immediately contacted federal partners and then began our investigation.

Warner: Did you inform employees as quickly as possible?

Griswold: We ended up opening an investigation, and when this became public, we hadn't informed the caseworkers at that point. We then alerted the clerks. We work with each individual district. We wanted to be responsible in collecting our information and had moved forward with this investigation.

Warner: Colorado lawmakers passed a law making intentional password leaking a felony. How do you know it was an accident?

Griswold: From our initial investigation. It definitely seems to be an accident. I want to step back and say that secretaries of state and secretaries-elect do not have access to these passwords. And the same goes for the statewide voter registration system.

This information is stored by officials. These are the officials who have been here through various administrations under Scott Gessler and under Wayne Williams. Nevertheless, it was a mistake, it is a mistake, and we take it very seriously.

Warner: Are you throwing officials under the bus here? I don't hear you saying, “I'm Jenna Griswold.” I'm Secretary of State. “The money stays with me.”

Griswold: You ask me how this happened, and I'll explain to you how it happened. I myself have not hidden passwords in a table and of course I take responsibility. That's what I told other reporters who asked me directly. We are taking this whole scenario very seriously.

Again, this doesn't pose an immediate security threat and I think it's really important to be measured in a response because there's a lot going on in this election here in the state and across the United States of America. Threats of violence have been increasing in recent years. We want to be very measured and make sure we have good information.

Warner: And I want to emphasize that you have been the subject of many of these threats and that in fact the party that helped bring this to the public's attention, the Republican Party from the very top, has also been spreading misinformation about elections and election results. They are calling for an independent review, some kind of review of what happened. Would you welcome that?

Griswold: We're actually already following that. We have no reason to believe that the partial passwords were published maliciously. With this in mind, a human resources investigation is being conducted by an external party to clarify the details of how this came to be, and we will continue to address the resolution.