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Colorado Secretary Of State 'Consulting' With Attorney General's Office Amid Elbert County Election Investigation

ELBERT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold says her office is now in touch with the state attorney general's office about an investigation into election equipment in Elbert Country. CBS4 Political Specialist Shaun Boyd first told you about the investigation on Jan. 24.

Griswold issued a subpoena for Elbert County Clerk Dallas Schroeder to appear at a deposition for questioning about allegedly making a copy of the county's voting system hard drive.

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(credit: CBS)

The hard drive includes information like passwords and system software, which hackers could use to interfere with elections. Schroeder signed an affidavit admitting that he "made a forensic image of everything on the election server and saved the image to a secure external hard drive that is kept under lock and key in the Elbert County elections office."

"Clerks are required to take copies of election records that includes information about the election, ballots cast, information like that. That is not what he copied. He copied the hard drive," Griswold said.

At this point, she says, there is no evidence that the copy posed a risk to last year's election. It appears to have been made before the system was updated. Griswold says the copies, however, are in the hands of unauthorized people which violates state election rules.

Schroeder must regain possession of those copies, she says. Schroeder has not responded to CBS4's request for comment.

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