The Denver District Attorney’s Office will not file criminal charges in connection with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office’s accidental release of certain voting system passwords, prosecutors announced Friday.
In a statement, District Attorney Beth McCann said the release of the passwords, which were posted on the Secretary of State’s website for several months starting in June, “was not an attempt to influence the outcome of an election.” Instead, she wrote, releasing the passwords was a mistake that did not violate the law.
A law firm hired by Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office previously determined that the release of the passwords was unintentional, although the investigation found that the office had violated information security policies.
The passwords were included in a hidden tab on a larger spreadsheet by an employee who left Griswold’s office in May 2023, the company’s review found. Current employees were unaware of the hidden tab when they published the spreadsheet online a year later.
In a separate statement Friday, Griswold’s office reiterated McCann’s findings and said it had cooperated with the Denver investigation. Spokesman Jack Todd declined to comment further.
McCann’s office opened the investigation in November, shortly after the Colorado Republican Party announced the discovery of the spreadsheet of hidden passwords, which were publicly available for download, in late October.
There is no evidence to indicate that the passwords were used to alter or disrupt election results, nor is there any evidence to indicate that election systems were compromised. Anyone wanting to do that would have needed a new set of passwords, as well as physical access to controlled, camera-monitored areas in district clerks’ offices.
According to a 26-page report issued by McCann’s officeinvestigators spoke to several current and former state employees and also reviewed employees’ laptops and email accounts.
In an Oct. 24 email exchange between the secretary of state’s staff — sent the day the office became aware the passwords were publicly available — staffers attempted to delete the spreadsheet. After being briefed on the issue, an employee whose name is redacted from the report responded, “Jesus.”
Investigators also received numerous “affidavits” from people and groups seeking an investigation into the situation. According to the report, none of these affidavits contained new information or evidence that a crime had been committed, and none came from Denver.
The El Paso County District Attorney’s Office said it has received two affidavits alleging violations of state law, and the office said it would cooperate with Denver prosecutors and review the Denver investigation . A spokeswoman for that office did not return messages seeking comment Friday.
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