Election workers process ballots for the presidential primaries on Super Tuesday at the Denver Elections Division, March 5, 2024. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)
Most counties in Colorado have upgraded their voting systems equipment since 2020 to models that physically cannot connect to the internet, and those that rely on older machines are statutorily required to disable any wireless capability.
Election officials say that even the older models do not create a vulnerability in the voting system, as some conservative politicians and activists claim.
“This is a known thing amongst the counties and amongst the Secretary of State’s office — that the (wireless) card was physically present, and so that there’s a couple of steps that were taken to ensure that it wasn’t activated or present,” Boulder Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick, a Democrat, said.
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Republican Heidi Ganahl, a former University of Colorado regent who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, said during a press conference last month that she found wireless networking cards in Douglas County that “could be used to expose the voting system to unauthorized remote access.” She indicated that the cards could reduce the integrity of Colorado’s voting system by allowing unauthorized access to the machines that count ballots and tabulate results.