Colorado voter registration tool exposed 59 confidential voter profiles

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of State says a recent update to its voter registration lookup tool inadvertently allowed access to the profiles of confidential voters.

According to the Department, an update to the "find my voter registration" tool on Aug. 14 was made to comply with new state law allowing pre-registered voters to check their voter registration online.

Officials say that update inadvertently overrode a preexisting restriction that prevented access to confidential voter profiles.

The Department discovered the issue late in the afternoon on Aug. 25 and immediately reversed the update. According to the Department, 59 confidential voter profiles were accessed during the period the system was affected.

The Department says the majority of those searches were conducted by voters accessing their own information. According to officials, they attempted to contact every voter whose profile was accessed.

As of Aug. 26, the Department says Colorado has 133,449 active confidential voters, meaning the incident affected approximately 0.04% of confidential voters.

The Department says it has no information indicating an imminent public safety issue related to the incident.

However, on Aug. 28, the Department enlisted the assistance of the Colorado State Patrol and Denver District Attorney’s Office to ensure any potential risk is examined and addressed.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said her office takes the confidentiality of voter information seriously and apologized for the incident.

“My office takes the confidentiality of each and every voter's data extremely seriously,” Griswold said. “I sincerely regret that this happened.”

According to the state voter information that is public and can be released, includes the following:

• Full name
• Residential address
• Party affiliation
• Date of affiliation
• Phone number (if the voter provides)
• Gender Identity (if the voter provides)
• Birth year
• Vote history of elections the voter has participated in

If an individual believes that making their voter information public could expose them or their family to criminal harassment or bodily harm, they can become a confidential voter, according to the state.

Those who wish to become a confidential voter must go to their local county clerk and recorder's office to fill out a voter confidentiality form and pay a fee.

Colorado also allows survivors of domestic violence, sexual offenses, or stalking to enroll in the Colorado Address Confidentiality Program to ensure none of their voter information is released to the public.

Colorado's 4th Judicial District Attorney (DA) Michael Allen, who is running against Secretary of State Jena Griswold for the Attorney General seat in November, says he has called for a full investigative audit into the incident and says he already has two investigators with the 4th Judicial DA's office assigned to the issue.

Allen also says his own personal information was accessed at least twice.

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