Judge hears case brought against CO Secretary of State after password leaks

DENVER — A district judge in Denver heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit filed by the Libertarian Party of Colorado against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold after partial passwords to components of the state’s voting system have been published online.

Last week, Griswold revealed that an employee mistakenly included partial passwords for voting systems in a spreadsheet that anyone could download from her office’s website. The public first learned of the leak after the Colorado Republican Party issued a statement about it on Wednesday, nearly a week after Griswold said his office was made aware of it on Thursday, October 24.

The Colorado Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit asking the court to order Griswold to recuse himself from participating in Tuesday’s election, immediately disable any voting devices associated with the posted passwords, order ballots in the affected counties to be counted by hand, and to override a temporary rule that allowed password changes. The party also wants Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to lead an investigation.

The trial began at around 1.30pm on Monday and lasted until almost 6pm on the night before Election Day.

It was revealed that 46 counties had voting machines with passwords visible in a hidden tab. Thirty-four of these 46 counties had machines with passwords that were still active, while the remaining 12 counties had new passwords.

Griswold’s lawyers have argued there is no factual or legal basis to grant what they call “unprecedented and extraordinary” relief. At one point, Griswold’s legal team said they believed the exemption sought by the Libertarian Party would cause chaos with Election Day just a day away.

During closing arguments, Griswold’s attorneys asked the judge to deny the relief sought by the petitioner. Advocates for the Libertarian Party called for the affected devices not to be used in Tuesday’s election and continued to push for a hand count.

The judge concluded the hearing by saying, “The court, having regard to the length and duration of the hearing, will issue a written order in due course.”