Suspect arrested in Colorado voter machine tampering case, could face felony under new law
A Colorado man has been arrested on suspicion of tampering with voting equipment by allegedly inserting a USB thumb drive into a voting machine at a polling station during the primary election in June, authorities said.
No elections data were accessed, and the June 28 incident didn’t cause any major disruption to voting, authorities said. But it heightened concerns among election officials and security experts that conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election could inspire some voters to meddle with – or even attempt to sabotage – election equipment.
Richard Patton, a 31-year-old from Pueblo, was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of election tampering and cybercrimes. The alleged tampering occurred at Pueblo County election headquarters approximately one hour before polls closed on June 28.
Patton is a registered Democrat, state records show.
“We would like to assure the community that all voter safeguards put in place to protect the voter process were successful,” a statement from Pueblo PD said. “No information has been found to be breached at this time. This is still an active and ongoing investigation.”
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What law enforcement reports say about what happened that night
Reports from Pueblo police and the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office show that around 6 p.m. on election night, Patton allegedly came into the downtown office of the elections department to vote in-person.
All registered Colorado voters are sent ballots in the mail but can also cast ballots on in-person machines at designated sites.
Election workers told law enforcement that Patton asked them about security presence before he cast a ballot. Patton dropped off his ballot before leaving the office — records confirm his ballot was cast.
Shortly after Patton left, an election worker went to clean the machine, per COVID-19 protocol, the law enforcement reports say.
The election worker noticed an error code on the screen of the machine Patton used and alerted supervisors. An error code was observed on the screen.
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Drake Rambke, the election supervisor dispatched to Pueblo County after thousands of incorrect primary ballots were mailed to some Pueblo voters, told law enforcement that evening that he wasn’t sure if a USB device had been plugged into the machine, but multiple election workers said the seals on the voting machines had been tampered with.
Colorado law requires that tamper-evident seals are affixed to voting equipment under strict security requirements, including a chain of custody of election officials.
Nobody else used the machine after Patton.
The voting machine was taken into evidence, as well as security camera footage from that evening.
A Pueblo police press release said that the Secretary of State, 10th Judicial District Attorney and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation worked to analyze the voting machine.
Patton has not previously been arrested or charged with a crime in Colorado, according to court records reviewed by the Pueblo Chieftain.
Another election supervisor has been sent to Pueblo County for the ongoing general election, concluding on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
New state law makes tampering with election equipment a felony
Patton was arrested under a warrant with a class 5 felony charge under election security laws Colorado legislators amended this spring, as well as a misdemeanor cybercrime charge.
The legislation upgraded the charge for tampering with election equipment from a class 1 misdemeanor to a class 5 felony. Under Colorado law, a class 5 felony can be punished by a one- to two-year jail sentence and/or a fine between $1,000 and $100,000.
Senate Bill 22-153 was mostly a response to election breaches committed by embattled Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters in summer 2021, when she was allegedly involved with leaking photos of confidential voting infrastructure to right-wing websites.
Peters has since been indicted by a grand jury on multiple felonies and misdemeanors. She pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for March 2023.
According to the bill's fiscal note, nobody has been sentenced and convicted for breaking election-related offenses between July 2018 and June 2021.
Tenth Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner confirmed to the Chieftain that the case has been referred to his office for review but no decision on charges has been made.
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Suspect doesn't fit the mold of most election integrity skeptics
Since former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 general election, conspiracy theories about fraudulent election equipment have been circulating around the country.
No evidence of widespread fraud in the presidential election has been substantiated, and dozens of lawsuits from Trump allies were dismissed in court.
Most of the theories have been pushed by prominent right-wing politicians and pundits, which have been circulated in conservative circles online and offline.
Records from the Pueblo County Clerk’s Office show that Patton has been a registered Democrat since 2020. He also previously has been registered with the Green Party, a left-leaning third party with core values of social justice and environmentalism.
National polling shows that registered Republicans have significantly less trust in the validity of elections than Democrats. A recent poll from Pew Research center found that nearly 9 in 10 Democrats think that the upcoming midterm elections will be administered well, compared with just 56% of Republicans.
Dominion Voting Systems, an election systems company headquartered in Denver, has been one target of people distrustful of election integrity.
Most of Colorado’s 64 counties, including Pueblo, use Dominion equipment.
Pueblo County has 18 voter service machines, Pueblo Clerk and Recorder Bo Ortiz said. One new machine from Dominion would cost approximately $2,600, according to a quote shared with the Chieftain in July under an open records request.
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pueblo suspect in voter machine tampering case arrested under new law
