In August, QAnon conspiracy theorist Ron Watkins shared a video he claimed confirmed ballot machines from Dominion Voting Systems will be remotely accessed to tamper with the outcomes of a vote. At the time, he stated the data got here to him from a “whistleblower.”
This week, a Colorado choose barred Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters from overseeing the county’s upcoming November election when it comes to a leak of balloting gadget BIOS passwords. Peters, who tweeted in aid of former President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy theories, invited a person named Gerald Wood to a assembly related to a “relied on build” software program replace that become supposed to make sure the safety of the county’s balloting machines. Peters claimed Wood become an “administrative assistant” transitioning to her office, however then later defined him as a “consultant” she employed to replicate data from the computers.
Ahead of the assembly, Belinda Knisley, Peters’ deputy, despatched an e mail to body of workers asking that they flip off the safety cameras withinside the Election Department and now no longer flip them again on till after August 1st. Knisley didn’t give an explanation for the cause for her request, however it become executed both way. On the day of the assembly, Wood photographed a spreadsheet that contained the passwords to the machines and copied over their tough drives. Following the assembly, the passwords had been publicly published to an “on-line social media site.”
“Peters directed the introduction of the photos of the tough drive, which become now no longer legal with the aid of using regulation and which at once brought about the decommissioning of Mesa County’s balloting systems, facilitating the leak of touchy information and uncovered the county’s balloting gadget to compromise,” Judge Valerie Robinson wrote in a choice noticed with the aid of using Ars Technica.
In a statement, Peters stated she plans to attraction the “choice to dispose of a duly elected clerk and recorded from her election duties.” She went directly to defined herself as a whistleblower and referred to as the case towards her a “strength grab” with the aid of using Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
“Clerk Peters significantly compromised the safety of Mesa County’s balloting gadget,” Griswold stated in a statement. “The Court’s choice these days bars Peters from in addition threatening the integrity of Mesa’s elections and guarantees Mesa County citizens have the steady and handy election they deserve.” The FBI and Mesa County district legal professional are investigating Peters, however no crook expenses had been filed yet.