Clerks raise concerns after password leak from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - The Colorado GOP released recordings of conversations between County Clerks and the Secretary of State’s Office about election security and sensitive passwords that were leaked.

“We weren’t going to tell counties, because we could not tell counties without it becoming the media storm it has become,” said Deputy Secretary Christopher Bell.

In another recording, El Paso County Clerk Steve Schleiker said, “The secretary has lost complete credibility down here.”

When we asked Schleiker about the recordings he says he was unaware how they got out but stands by what he said. He claims his words were in support of election security.

“I’m not afraid to sit there and stand up for the security of our election system here in El Paso County. All the things that we have done to ensure that we are the leader in the state of Colorado, with all the changes we have made in the hopes that many of the changes may become Colorado law,” Clerk Schleiker said.

Those changes include 24-hour camera surveillance of ballot boxes, eliminating outside network connections from tabulation machines, physical security, and other measures taken by the County Clerk’s office.

In a statement from the Secretary of State’s office, they respond to the recordings by saying in a statement:

“This brief audio is from multiple calls between the Department of State and County Clerks and is a small portion of what the Department staff conveyed to the Clerks.

The Department communicated on the calls where the audio is from that it had to first determine the full scope of the issue and finalize the technical and outreach strategy before sharing it, to avoid fueling the major disinformation environment that surrounds elections. At no point did the posting present an immediate security risk to voting equipment in Colorado. The Department took immediate and appropriate action to address the situation, and the election was conducted fairly and securely.

The Secretary is regretful for this error and that County Clerks did not learn about the posting from the Department first."