Once again for those who still think what Tina Peters did was a minor infraction not worthy of criminal prosecution, and sentenced to 9 years, here's the fuller story.. She was found guilty by a jury of her peers, appealed, still lost the appeal on the conviction, which stood. However, the sentencing was disputed; she should have received some credit for her First Amendment rights, ordered resentencing, said the courts and Polis, acted before the resentencing, was releaseing her after she had served four and a half years in prison.
At the same time, she was caught compromising ballot security and the integrity of the count; two other county clerks also tried to do the same. However, instead of simply breaking the rules and then trying to cover it up and lying, as Peters did, they were removed from their duties in counting and reporting on the election. results. When it was discovered that Peters lied about the identity of the person to whom she gave the codes and put someone up to help her, she got into deeper trouble. Imagine if every county clerk thinks they can just give the codes to a volunteer and get away with it, how much faith would we have in the count? All three clerks involved were Trump supporters, who heeded his call to "secure the machines, ballots; we expect fraud if we lose" by giving the codes or access to an unauthorized person or locking up the ballots in violation of the rules and laws they had sworn to uphold, and just be given a light reprimand for breaking the rules, what then?
Here is the conservative Heritage Foundation's summary of the case. Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk, was charged by Mesa County with 9 felonies and 5 misdemeanors for her role in an election security breach in 2021. Peters worked with Belinda Knisley to allow unauthorized personnel access to the Mesa County election system, including providing an individual who was never hired by the county with an access badge to the secure election system. Peters and Knisley also had the security cameras overlooking the access machines turned off. In August 2021, images of the Mesa County election management systems and related passwords appeared on the internet. Knisley and Peters then refused to comply with subpoenas and directives from the Secretary of State when this was investigated. As a result, Peters was charged with multiple counts of attempt to influence a public servant; conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation; criminal impersonation; identity theft; official misconduct; violation of duty; and failure to comply with requirements of the Secretary of State. Following a jury trial, she was convicted of 4felonies and 3 misdemeanors and acquitted of the 3 remaining charges. She was sentenced to a total of 9 years (8 ½ in prison and six months in jail) and fined $14,992.50.
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