By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
It did not take long for the opening of the 75th General Assembly to reach a hiccup Wednesday.
Republican Rep. Ken DeGraaf objected to the Colorado House credentials committee report, typically a first order of business when opening the legislature, based upon concerns related to Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office leaking election system passwords.
The credentials report is presented to the whole of the House and voted on to start the process of seating representatives.
DeGraaf was critical of a system Griswold has self-described as the “gold standard”. He rose to state the objection to the credentials report.
“This [the password leak publicly] lasted a full four months,” DeGraaf said. “This is the keys to the kingdom.”
His further criticism questioned how possibly Colorado’s elections can be as described by Griswold.
“We have a system that is referred to as the Gold Standard,” he said. “Then we say it substantially meets the standards.”
DeGraaf asked members of the House for clarity on which parts don’t substantially meet the definition.
“Unless you can investigate you can’t find fraud,” he said. “We have a system that is broken.”
It was pointed out that the password leak was investigated by both a private law firm and by the Denver district attorney.
Rep. Scott Bottoms also supported DeGraaf’s objection, along with four other members of the House.
“I am very uncomfortable certifying this election,” he said.
Bottoms, who like DeGraaf represents El Paso County, expressed concern that the password leak could have impacted the election.
“We know the system is very broken,” he said. “I don’t have proof the passwords were used for anything.”
The credential report was accepted and the election certified by a 57-6 vote.