Colorado Secretary of State’s Office to Provide Grants to Counties for Election Cyber and Physical Security

Denver, June 14, 2021 - Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold today announced the creation of a new grant program that will offer funding to Colorado county clerks for election security measures. The grants, which will be open for application in July, can be used for election cyber and physical security in order to keep Colorado’s elections the best in the nation.

“Colorado is considered the safest state in which to cast a ballot, and we are dedicated to election security,” said Secretary Griswold. “I am so happy to offer these cyber and physical security grants to counties.  By strengthening security throughout our system, we can continue to lead the nation in election security and continue to provide elections that make Coloradans proud.”

The grants, which will amount to a total of $100,000 and come from “Help America Votes Act” federal funding, can be used by counties for cyber or physical security, such as upgrading election workstation operating systems, network segmentation assistance, secure network communication technology for remote voting centers, cameras, or updated locks.

“Election security is crucial these days, and assistance in providing dollars for election security purchases that we otherwise would not have discretionary funds to pay for will be very welcome,” said Lori Mitchell, Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder.

Colorado is regarded nationwide as one of the safest states in which to cast a ballot.  Voting machines are not connected to the internet and the state utilizes voter verified paper ballots, which cannot be hacked.  Colorado also performs post-election Risk Limiting Audits, which show to a statistical level of certainty that election results are correct. 

In March, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a report that warned foreign adversaries attempted to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, targeting state and local IT networks, particularly websites. The reports also indicated an expectation that similar threats most likely would be attempted in future elections.

Grants will be awarded based on applicants’ level of need toward increasing their security infrastructure.