The revelation came to light as Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, investigates Elbert County Clerk Dallas Schroeder, a Republican, for making the copies over the summer. Griswold\u2019s office says it\u2019s also likely that the copies were made \u201cusing a prohibited removable storage device.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Secretary of State\u2019s Office is now demanding more information from Schroeder about the copies, which he says he made ahead of a software update.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Griswold issued an order demanding preliminary information from Schroeder about how he copied the hard drive. In response, Schroeder, through an attorney, said he delivered an external hard drive to an unnamed \u201cprivate attorney \u2026 who promised to safeguard the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schroeder also admitted in his response to Griswold\u2019s office that two people who are not employed by the Elbert County Clerk\u2019s and Recorder\u2019s Office provided instructions by phone to Schroeder as he made the images. Those people were identified in Schroeder\u2019s response to Griswold\u2019s office as Sean Smith and Mark Cook.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not clear what groups, if any, Smith and Cook are affiliated with. They were identified in Schroeder\u2019s response to Griswold only by their names.<\/p>\n
Schroeder said he \u201cdoes not recall anyone asking him to make an image of the server.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griswold says there has been a \u201cpotential breach of security protocols for voting system equipment in Elbert County.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy office is reviewing the information received about the copying of Elbert County\u2019s voting equipment hard drives,\u201d she said in a written statement. \u201cWe are continuing to investigate, and will determine any additional steps required. As secretary of state, I will ensure that every Republican, Democrat and unaffiliated voter has access to secure and safe elections.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Secretary of State\u2019s Office said the hard-drive copy is problematic because security protocols may not have been followed when it was made. The office doesn\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s on the hard-drive copies.<\/p>\n
\u201cColorado county clerks are required by law to follow election rules,\u201d Annie Orloff, a spokeswoman for Griswold, said. \u201cThere are security protocols that need to be followed, such as who has access to voting equipment, prohibition in using an unauthorized USB or other devices, prohibition of breaking seals on the voting equipment without logging, among other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new order demanding more information says that Schroeder\u2019s initial \u201dresponse does not fully answer the questions posed\u201d and that it \u201cpresents potential evidence of additional violations of election security.\u201d<\/p>\n
Griswold\u2019s latest order asks for the series numbers of the hard drives that were copied and more information about the device used to copy them. It also demands \u201cany and all communications, including, but not limited to, text messages, emails or voicemails\u201d with Smith and Cook \u201cand any other persons involved in the planning and imaging of voting systems components, and the subsequent storage, maintenance, examination or copies of those images.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation involving Schroeder comes amid an investigation into Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a Republican who is accused of facilitating the creation of a copy of her county\u2019s election system hard drive as well as allowing an unauthorized person to attend a sensitive election system software update from which passwords were posted online.<\/p>\n
A judge barred Peters from having an oversight role in Colorado\u2019s 2021 elections, and Griswold is seeking to prevent her from overseeing the 2022 elections as well.<\/p>\n
Schroeder, Douglas County Clerk Merlin Klotz and state Rep. Ron Hanks, R-Fremont County, sued Griswold in November claiming that the election system software used in Colorado in 2020 was improperly certified and that the Secretary of State\u2019s Office illegally destroyed election records.<\/p>\n
Griswold has strongly denied the claims, saying they are based on debunked conspiracy theories.<\/p>\n
Schroeder, who is in his second term as Elbert County\u2019s clerk and recorder, did not respond to messages from The Colorado Sun this week seeking comment about the situation. His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.<\/p>\n
Schroeder\u2019s county uses equipment from Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems.<\/p>\n
The Secretary of State\u2019s Office says it does not believe \u201cthat the unauthorized imaging (in Elbert County) has created an imminent or direct security risk to Colorado\u2019s elections.\u201d<\/p>\n