Secretary of State Jena Griswold succeeded in taking Colorado’s level of election security to the gold standard of jaw-dropping Incompetence this week after admitting her office exposed hundreds of voting system passwords online.
If this bozo of a booboo sounds familiar, that’s because Griswold attacked former Mesa Clerk Tina Peters when that county’s voting system passwords were exposed by an online blogger bringing down all Hellfire on Peters’ now imprisoned head.
Has Griswold been arrested? Resigned? In any kind of trouble whatsoever?
Don’t be silly. Griswold is a Democrat, so it was just a minor mistake and no harm done, according to just about everyone in the Denver media market except for Kyle Clark.
In 2021, Griswold’s office said the disclosure of Mesa County’s voting system passwords “alone” was a “serious breach of voting system security protocols.” Griswold told me today that her office’s leak of passwords was not a serious breach. pic.twitter.com/r1fLVaFjfL
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) October 29, 2024
That sound in the background was Griswold’s hopes and dreams of running for governor in 2026 being flushed down the proverbial toilet without Clark offering to light a match to extinguish the stench of it all.
Coloradans are being told that the exposure of 600 passwords for voting machines statewide by Griswold’s office is no big deal compared to the Mesa County passwords exposed by a blogger because no one could have accessed the machines then — or now with just one password.
A significant difference in these scandals is that it unraveled Peters’ many election conspiracies that she failed to prove in Mesa County and launched her prison sentence.
Also, the Peters’ controversy did not occur just days before an election like the unfolding Griswold scandal.
Does this mean the election has been compromised?
Doubtful.
Does it finally confirm Griswold is not qualified to lead the state’s election office and abused the public trust by trying to keep this whopper a secret for a week?
Without a doubt.
Clark ticks off some of the more egregious errors by her office from the last elections as Griswold smirks and pretends it’s no big deal:
Griswold’s office has made a series of errors undermining voter confidence: mailing voter registration invites to 30k non-citizens, wrongly notifying voters they hadn’t voted, and leaking voting machine passwords. I asked Griswold if she will resign. “Absolutely not,” she said. pic.twitter.com/YXiYGNQu2u
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) October 30, 2024
Meanwhile, state House Republicans are demanding her resignation.
If this was a serious breach of election security protocol for Peters, then it’s sure as Hell a serious breach of election system protocols for Griswold.
🚨 BREAKING: Colorado House Republicans are calling for Secretary of State Jena Griswold to resign following a serious breach of election security protocols. Her office’s recent posting of critical election system passwords online has raised significant concerns about the…
— Colorado House Republicans (@COHouseGOP) October 30, 2024
GOP House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese said in a statement issued Wednesday:
“While I have the utmost trust in the integrity of our county clerks, who actually oversee the counting of votes, I have no trust that Secretary Griswold is capable of leading our election system. Enough of her incompetence, it is time for her to resign. The people of Colorado deserve better,” Pugliese said.
Will the attorney general or Justice Department at least pretend to investigate this like they thoroughly investigated Peters?
That all probably depends on Tuesday’s election results.
Stay tuned.