By Jen Schumann | Contributor, Rocky Mountain Voice
The Colorado Republican Party is attempting to rally residents of the state into action.
Amid claims of compromised election security, party leaders are urging voters to demand accountability from officials through the filing of affidavits.
They have accused Secretary of State Jena Griswold of overseeing serious election security flaws. The GOP, in their affidavit, called for action. They released expert testimonies, supporting documents and recordings of internal calls between Griswold’s office and county clerks.
The materials reveal growing frustration among election officials and cybersecurity experts.
A controversy exists over exposure of more than 600 BIOS passwords for election systems in half of Colorado’s 64 counties, as presented in Libertarian Party v. Jena Griswold, et al. More counties were exposed, but systems in operation in some counties did not make the passwords viable. The GOP claims this breach is a serious insider threat. It endangers Colorado’s elections, they say, and those of other states using similar systems.
The Colorado GOP’s notice, “Colorado’s Ultimate Insider Threat,” says Griswold’s mishandling of election security compromised the state’s voting systems. They accuse her office of downplaying the risks of exposed passwords. They say her office failed to act promptly and undermined public trust.
Coloradans are urged to file affidavits with their district attorneys, demanding investigations and accountability for their actions. The notice includes instructions on doing so and an affidavit template.
The GOP also shared excerpts from a call between the secretary of state’s office and county clerks. These conversations expose a rift between the state and local election officials. The Adams and El Paso County clerks, one a blue county and the other a red county, voiced distrust over Griswold’s crisis management. Others have privately done the same with the Rocky Mountain Voice.
Adams County Clerk Josh Zygielbaum criticized the slow, unclear response: “What the secretary’s office should have done when you found out about this issue is deploy people instantly to go change the passwords instead of keeping it a secret from everybody,” he said. He also expressed frustration over the last-minute nature of the fixes, stating, “It’s completely unacceptable that this is our process now, five days before the election to get this done.”
El Paso County Clerk Steve Schleiker echoed these views. He cited a breakdown in public trust. “The secretary has lost complete credibility down here,” he said. “The media outlets here aren’t even going to the secretary’s website or looking at the media releases.”
The clerks’ worries grew when they learned that many of the personnel sent to fix the breach had little experience with election systems. Deputy Secretary Christopher Beall acknowledged this, stating, “Even though some of the folks may never have worked on a voting system, they’ve worked on all kinds of computers.”
The GOP’s notice included a video link to an urgent COGOP meeting that occurred on Nov. 11, which attracted more than 300 attendees, including Quentin Young and the infamous Kyle Clark. They had testimonies from cybersecurity experts Clay Parikh, Shawn Smith and Mark Cook. They detailed the technical and procedural failings of Colorado’s election systems.
Parikh, a U.S. Marine veteran and cybersecurity expert with 20 years of experience, warned of the severity of the BIOS password breach. He had also testified in the Libertarian Party v. Jena Griswold, et al, hearing on the password leak. He noted that the database contained encryption keys stored in plain text. He called it a “massive security flaw.” Parikh emphasized, “If a BIOS password is compromised, it renders all other passwords irrelevant. I can create my own account, bypass security and access critical systems.”
Smith, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, noted the challenges of addressing election security in courts that lack tech expertise.
“The courts are often unable to reach reasonable conclusions because they don’t have the technical knowledge to evaluate the evidence presented,” he said. Smith criticized the secretary of state’s office for failing to acknowledge the systemic risks posed by their actions.
Cook focused on the technical inadequacies of Colorado’s voting systems. He explained how BIOS passwords could be exploited remotely, using tools like Dell’s Configuration Utility.
“The lack of proper security measures in Colorado’s voting systems is astounding,” he said. He concluded, “The current state of these systems is unacceptable for ensuring election integrity.”
The GOP’s claims raise concerns about election integrity in Colorado and other states with similar systems. Experts warn that shared vulnerabilities, like the hacked X.509 certificates, could disrupt elections nationwide.
The Colorado GOP has urged residents to take action by filing affidavits and demanding accountability.
“File an affidavit with your judicial district attorney,” the notice reads. It adds that citizens should push for investigations at local, state and federal levels.