The Libertarian Party of Colorado has filed a lawsuit against the office of Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold after her office inadvertently uploaded a spreadsheet containing passwords for the state’s voting machines to its website.
“The Libertarian Party of Colorado (LPCO) today announced it has pursued legal action against [Jena Griswold], Colorado Secretary of State, and her office, following the disclosure of passwords for voting machines,” the party stated on Friday. “This action is in response to what the LPCO views as a severe breach of election security protocols, which was not addressed promptly even after the issue became known.”
The lawsuit comes in response to Griswold’s office uploading a spreadsheet to its website that “improperly included a hidden tab including partial passwords to certain components of Colorado voting systems.”
Griswold’s office first acknowledged the breach in a press release last Tuesday, stating that it discovered the issue but that it did not pose an “immediate security threat to Colorado’s elections, nor will it impact how ballots are counted.” In a follow-up statement, her office said that, with the help of Governor Jared Polis, it had reset all passwords related to the voting systems in “every affected county” by that Thursday. Her office further added that the changes “were made out of an abundance of caution.”
However, the Libertarian Party of Colorado has since filed a lawsuit against Griswold and her office, noting that the passwords have been accessible “since at least June of 2024.” The party claims that Griswold’s delay in speedily addressing the issue raises questions about election security and threatens public trust in the electoral process. It states that legal action is necessary to restore voter confidence and prevent similar future incidents.
“The integrity of our electoral process is fundamental to the Republic, and the security of our voting systems is paramount,” stated LPCO Executive Director Jim Wiley, representing the party in the release. “The Colorado Secretary of State’s office should have acted swiftly to rectify this situation once it was aware of the issue. The delay in response, especially after the matter became public, raises significant concerns about the commitment to election security.”
According to the lawsuit, the Libertarian Party of Colorado is calling for Griswold to recuse herself from overseeing Tuesday’s election and for Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to launch “a full and fair investigation” into the incident. The suit also requests that her office decommission the voting machines associated with the leaked passwords, order hand-counting of ballots in the 63 affected counties, and overturn a temporary rule issued by Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Beall that permitted the later password changes to happen, which the party claims exceeded his legal authority.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for this afternoon, November 4, according to a social media post from the Libertarian Party of Colorado.
Excellent news. They won’t be allowed to win of course, but any attempt at payback for conspiring with Harlos to illegally put a different presidential ticket on the ballot than the LPCO nominated, is a worthy one.