DENVER — A software update to the Colorado Secretary of State's website left 133,000 confidential voter profiles exposed for 11 days, beginning Aug. 14.
The mistake was discovered on Aug. 25 by an employee in the Secretary of State's office who is a confidential voter. The employee found they were able to access their own profile using their legal name, full date of birth, and ZIP code — information that should have blocked access to confidential records.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold said the issue was fixed within an hour of discovery.
WATCH: Colorado Secretary of State's website exposed 133,000 confidential voter profiles for 11 days
"As a confidential voter, he should not have been able to use that tool, but he was able to access his profile. That program should not allow confidential voters to look themselves up or anyone have access to that information," Griswold said.
The error was caused by an update published to the "Find my voter registration" tool on the Secretary of State's website that inadvertently made those profiles public.
Of the 133,000 exposed profiles, 59 voters had their information accessed during the 11-day window. The voter details displayed on a non-confidential voter's profile include full name, birth year, voter ID, registration status, party affiliation, and residential address.
The department contacted 54 of the affected voters directly and mailed letters to the remaining five. Griswold said that, based on those conversations and IP addresses, they believe the voters accessed those profiles themselves.
Griswold took responsibility for the error and said additional safeguards are being put in place.
"Well, ultimately, it is my office, and I apologize for the error. This should not have happened at this point. We have various steps in place to avoid system changes from going wrong after coders update any of our infrastructure; there's quality assurance and then another check. And unfortunately, though that was not enough, so we are taking additional steps, including automated quality assurance," Griswold said.
This is not the first time the Secretary of State's office has faced a major technology error, raising questions about voter security. Two years ago, the office mistakenly released a public spreadsheet containing partial passwords to election systems.
As for who is responsible for publishing the flawed update, Griswold said it is an HR matter that will be handled under the law.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.