This week on Colorado Politicking, legislative reporter Pat Poblete and political correspondent Ernest Luning discuss Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s move to decertify Mesa County voting equipment after a security breach involving Clerk Tina Peters. Chief legislative reporter Marianne Goodland recaps the “Commitment to Colorado” unveiled by Republicans earlier this week.

Griswold at a Thursday news conference announced she had issued an order prohibiting Mesa County from using election equipment that she said was compromised when Peters “knowingly” allowed a security breach that led to the voting system’s passwords showing up on right-wing websites.

Griswold, a Democrat, said her office’s investigation has determined that Peters, a Republican and Mesa County’s top election official, told county staff to turn off required video surveillance a week before a routine May 25 software update to the county’s election system and allowed an unauthorized person to record the procedure.

“It’s what prosecutors like to call evidence of guilty knowledge, doing something like that,” Luning said of shutting off the cameras. “But there’s a whole lot of threads to this that we’re just starting to unravel.”

Goodland covered the set of priorities that Republican party officials, state lawmakers and conservative groups say they hope will help sway votes their way in next year’s election.

“This is their first stab at the 2022 elections and topping the list you have: making Colorado affordable, prioritizing public safety and expanding educational choice,” Goodland said.

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