Colorado elections clerk is sued after passing on voting data
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[February 18, 2022]
By Tim Reid and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) -A Colorado elections clerk was
sued on Thursday after he copied data from voting machines with the help
of two men with ties to groups supporting the false conspiracy theory
that the 2020 election was stolen from former Republican President
Donald Trump.
Dallas Schroeder, who oversees elections in Elbert County, east of
Denver, was sued by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold for making
two copies of his county's voting system hard drives and then handing
the images to "unauthorized people", according to the lawsuit.
In the civil lawsuit, filed in Elbert County District Court, Griswold
demands that Schroeder return the copies and hand over the device he
used to make them.
Schroeder did not immediately respond to a Reuters email for comment.
Schroeder is the second Colorado elections clerk to come under scrutiny
for allegedly breaching voting systems as part of an "election
integrity" effort by Trump supporters who falsely claim the 2020
election was marred by fraud. Suspected breaches are under investigation
in other states, including in Michigan, where authorities last week said
an unnamed third party had been given unauthorized access to a county
voting system.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/18/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
In August, the FBI opened an investigation into a suspected security
breach of voting equipment in Mesa County in western Colorado. Griswold,
a Democrat, has accused Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters of facilitating
that breach.
Peters and Schroeder, both Republicans, have denied any wrongdoing.
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![](../images/021822PIX/news_h49.jpg)
A voter casts a ballot using an express voting machine as early
voting for the upcoming presidential election begins in Appleton,
Wisconsin, U.S., October 20, 2020. REUTERS/Gabriela Bhaskar
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Feb/18/images/ads/current/heartland_lda_NOV2021.png) Peters announced on Monday she was
running for Colorado Secretary of State.
In a January court filing, Schroeder said he made copies of his
county's voting system hard drives last August.
He said he was "provided instructions" on the phone by Shawn Smith
and Mark Cook, prominent election-denial activists, and used a
device provided by Cook.
Smith and Cook are associates of Mike Lindell, the pro-Trump chief
executive of My Pillow Inc., and an election conspiracist.
Cook did not immediately respond to an email and call seeking
comment. There was no immediate response to a request for comment
from Smith, sent through the U.S. Election Integrity Plan group with
which he is affiliated.
Schroeder said he gave the hard drive copies to his attorney, John
Case, and another unnamed attorney. He said he made the copies to
preserve election records before a scheduled update to the systems.
Schroeder is also suing Griswold, demanding an audit of the 2020
results.
In Michigan last week, Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson
claimed an unnamed third party had been given unauthorized access to
a county voting system.
(Reporting by Tim Reid in Los Angeles and Alexandra Ulmer in San
Francisco; Editing by Donna Bryson, Raju Gopalakrishnan and Chizu
Nomiyama)
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