An error in the Secretary of State’s office that saw confidential passwords posted online should not affect voter confidence, says Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The Secretary of State’s Office said the information, which appeared in a hidden online tab, contained only half of the passwords needed and would not be enough to access sensitive election systems.

Griswold said the mistake was made by an “official” in the Secretary of State’s Office, who no longer works there.

“Ultimately, a public official made a serious mistake and we are actively working to fix it,” Griswold said. “Humans make mistakes.”

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

Editor’s note: The transcript of this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ryan Warner: Your office says there is no threat to election security with these online passwords, that there are other security measures in place. What about an erosion of people’s trust?

Jena Griswold: Well, I think situations like this are exactly why we have so many layers of security behind the Colorado elections and it’s important to be very clear about the situation.

A spreadsheet located on the department’s website was posted incorrectly and had a hidden tab that included partial passwords for certain components of Colorado voting equipment. Now, we don’t believe there is an immediate threat to election security in Colorado, in part because partial passwords get you nowhere. Two unique passwords are required for each member of the electoral team. Physical access is required. And under Colorado law, voting equipment is stored in secure rooms that require secure identification credentials. There are video cameras 24/7. There is restricted access to secure voting areas, a strict chain of custody, and it is a felony to access voting equipment without authorization.

Warner: You say a spreadsheet was posted incorrectly. Who is ultimately responsible for this and how do you view responsibility?

Griswold: An official accidentally made this mistake. Out of an abundance of caution, we have people in the field working to reset passwords and review access logs for affected counties. The employee responsible for the hidden tabs in the spreadsheet is no longer with the department and we are doing everything we can to, of course, protect the public and work with the counties. And, again, this is out of an abundance of caution. We do not believe there is a threat to the security of Colorado elections.

Warner: There are Republicans in the legislature and also Republican Congresswoman Lauren Bobert calling for your resignation. He has told 9News that he would not resign. Why doesn’t this reach that level?

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

In the end, a public official made a serious mistake and we are actively working to fix it. Humans make mistakes. That’s exactly why I’ve passed important legislation to add layers of security to our election process and ensure that no mistakes put our voting systems at risk. Since taking office, I have faced violent threats. I have faced conspiracy theories from elected Republicans in this state, none of their efforts have stopped me, and I will continue to do my job.

Warner: Is there a pattern in which you don’t do this job?

Griswold: Absolutely not. I take my job very seriously. We take election administration very seriously. At the end of the day, I think it’s very important to emphasize that, overall, the people in my office have done a very good job in a difficult situation. Because of the lies, the conspiracies, the threats, we have 38 percent new county clerks in the state of Colorado. The legislature has repeatedly refused to increase funding for my position. People are working day and night to achieve elections and, honestly, we have achieved it. Even with all the lies in the conspiracies, we are seeing in previous elections since 2020, more than 98 percent or so of Coloradans across the political spectrum choose to use their mail-in ballots. We have remarkably high confidence. Over the summer, Colorado tied for number one in trust in our elections. Situations happen in elections. There are 64 counties. We want everything to go very, very well. And God forbid, we never want any of our employees to make a mistake. But in the case of elections, the question is how to approach it.

Warner: And just to be clear, this came to your attention because of the GOP press release and your office, the state Republican Party?

Griswold: No, that’s not correct.

Warner: How did this catch your attention?

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

Warner: Did you inform employees as soon as you could?

Griswold: We ended up launching an investigation and when this became public, we had not informed employees at the time. We have subsequently alerted employees. We are working with all counties. We wanted to be responsible in collecting our information and had conducted that research.

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

Griswold: From our initial research. It sure looks like an accident. I want to take a step back and say that the secretaries of state, the elected secretaries, do not have access to these passwords. And the same goes for the state-level voter registration system.

This information is in the hands of public officials. These are the officials who have been here for several administrations under Scott Gessler, under Wayne Williams. That said, this was a mistake, it is a mistake and we take it very seriously.

Warner: Are you taking down public officials here? I don’t hear you say, ‘I’m Jenna Griswold.’ I am Secretary of State. The responsibility is mine.

Griswold: You ask me how this happened and I’ll explain how it happened. I myself did not hide passwords in a spreadsheet and of course I take responsibility. I have said this to other journalists who have asked me directly. We take this whole scenario very seriously.

Again, this does not pose an immediate security threat and I think it’s really important to be measured in the response because there is a lot going on here in the state and across the United States of America with this election. Threats of violence have increased for several years. We want to be very measured in making sure that we have good information,

Warner: And I want to emphasize that you have been the subject of many of those threats and that, in fact, the party that helped bring this to public attention, the top-down Republican Party, has also spread misinformation about the election. . and electoral results. They are asking for an independent audit, some kind of review of what happened. Would you appreciate that?

Griswold: In fact, we’re already pursuing that. We have absolutely no reason to believe that partial passwords were posted with malicious intent. That said, an outside party will conduct a staff investigation to look into the details of how this occurred and will continue to address it in the future.