Voting Data From A Colorado County Was Leaked Online. Now The Clerk Is In Hiding

A county clerk in Colorado is under investigation after sensitive information about the county's voting machines appeared on conspiracy websites.

Transcript

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Election officials around the country continue to face threats because of lies that they intentionally mishandled last year's election. But as Colorado Public Radio's Bente Birkeland reports, one local election official in that state stands accused of feeding those very conspiracy theories.

BENTE BIRKELAND, BYLINE: A few weeks ago, a conspiracy website published passwords and sensitive information about Mesa County's election equipment. State officials soon pointed fingers at the local county clerk, Tina Peters. The county uses equipment from Dominion Voting Systems. That company is at the heart of many lies that it somehow rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump. At the same time the state announced its probe, Peters attended and spoke at a conference that pushed more falsehoods about the 2020 election.

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TINA PETERS: I've listened to people. I've looked at it objectively. And there are some discrepancies there that I cannot deny. And I tell people, I say, I cannot unsee some of these things.

BIRKELAND: Local prosecutors and the FBI have opened investigations into whether Peters gave an unauthorized person access to the voting machines. So far, there's no criminal charges against her. But the state has filed a lawsuit to prevent Peters from having any role in upcoming elections this fall. She has not been back to work. And her whereabouts are unknown.

MATT MASTERSON: It's stunning to me as an election professional because it is so completely outside the norm.

BIRKELAND: Matt Masterson lead election security work at the Department of Homeland Security last year. He's now at Stanford University. Historically, Masterson says Democrats and Republicans have administered elections in a professional, nonpartisan way.

MASTERSON: Because they know that their job is to be protectors of democracy, of our system, of our elections. And this is the first time in my memory that I can recall an election official brazenly shirking that duty in pursuit of their own benefits.

BIRKELAND: Peters is being sheltered by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. He's a serial promoter of false election fraud claims and says Peters fears for her safety. Back in Colorado, local county commissioners say she needs to be on the job. Commissioner Scott McInnis is a fellow Republican.

SCOTT MCINNIS: She's in hiding by her own admission. We want to make sure we take the threats against her very, very seriously. We want to make sure she's protected. But she needs to come back to work.

BIRKELAND: While some residents in this conservative and largely rural area want Peters voted out of office or recalled, she also has backers.

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: (Chanting) We love Peters. We love Peters.

BIRKELAND: Shelley Lucas (ph) attended a recent rally to support Peters. She says if Peters did help leak information about Dominion voting machines, that's a good thing.

SHELLEY LUCAS: I feel that there was definitely election fraud. And we need to get to the bottom of it. It's been in every county, every state. And I want to know about it.

BIRKELAND: Colorado's audits show that there were no problems with the state's election. In fact, election officials from around the country consider the state to be the gold standard. There are paper ballots and audits to make sure the tallies match what the machines count. This incident has made Matt Masterson, the election security expert, fearful about the 2022 elections.

MASTERSON: And for these ongoing conspiracies and lies to continue to be perpetrated for political and financial gain is sad and sells out our democracy at a time when election officials risk their health and safety to do this.

BIRKELAND: Masterson says if there isn't accountability in Mesa County, he worries other partisan-minded election officials could be inspired to act the same way.

For NPR News, I'm Bente Birkeland in Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF HANDBOOK'S "STARRY SKIES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.