FBI joins criminal probe in Colorado voting equipment breach

By PATTY NIEBERG
Associated Press/Report for America

DENVER (AP) — The FBI has joined a criminal investigation into an alleged security breach of a rural Colorado county’s voting equipment. The federal probe comes after Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold alerted federal cyber security officials of the suspected breach. Griswold accused Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters of directing staff to turn off video surveillance of voting equipment before a May 25 software update. Griswold also says Peters allowed a non-employee into the elections office during the highly secure software update. Peters says that Griswold is attempting a takeover of Mesa County’s elections in one of Colorado’s last Republican strongholds.