Court tosses out sentence of election denier Tina Peters, orders resentencing

A Colorado appeals court ruled Thursday that convicted election denier Tina Peters — who was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 voting system breach — should be resentenced.

The decision represents a setback for crucial efforts to hold accountable those working to undermine fair elections.

“Peters will continue to face accountability for coordinating a breach of her own election equipment,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said in a statement. “Her actions have been repeatedly used to spread conspiracy theories, amplify falsehoods, and fuel dangerous election lies. Peters should not receive any special treatment as the District Court considers re-sentencing.”

In 2021, Peters — who was then serving as Mesa County clerk — allowed unauthorized people to access sensitive voting-machine software, helped copy and circulate confidential election data and then misled investigators as the scheme unraveled. The data later appeared in fringe, far-right conspiracy circles promoting President Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.

Griswold first launched an investigation and found that Peters, an avowed election denier, was behind the data leak. Peters was later found guilty of three felony counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one felony count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and a slew of misdemeanors.

Peters was sentenced to nine years in a state prison by Colorado District Judge Matthew Barrett, who did not mince words during the sentencing hearing. 

“You are no hero, you abused your position, and you’re a charlatan who used, and is still using, your prior position in office to peddle a snake oil that’s been proven to be junk time and time again,” Barrett said.

In a 3-0 ruling, a panel of judges said that Barrett violated Peters’ free-speech rights during her sentencing. 

“The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” the judges wrote. “Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud; it was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud. Indeed, under these circumstances, just as her purported beliefs underlying her motive for her actions were not relevant to her defense, the trial court should not have considered those beliefs relevant when imposing sentence.”

Since Peters’ conviction in 2024, she’s become a cause célèbre among conspiracy-driven far-right activists and election deniers — some of whom have called for violence to free her. 

Trump has repeatedly called for her release and, in December, issued her a legally meaningless “pardon.” Since Peters was convicted on state, not federal charges, the president has no constitutional authority to pardon her.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) has, so far, resisted pressure from the White House and the far-right to pardon Peters — unleashing a wave of retribution from the president. Trump cut funding, vetoed state-specific bills, and launched federal investigations into Colorado as part of what some Colorado lawmakers and elected officials said was retaliation over Polis’ refusal to pardon Peters. 

Even a federal judge found that an attempt by the Trump administration to cut Colorado’s SNAP benefits appeared to be retribution over Peters. 

In recent weeks, Polis — who is term-limited from running for reelection — has signaled that he may free Peters, despite objections from a wide range of Colorado Democrats.

In a letter sent to Polis last month, every Democrat in the state legislature asked the governor to avoid pardoning Peters, and allow the appeals process over her sentence to play out. 

“We urge you to allow that process to advance and for the judicial system alone to handle review of any further actions in this case,” the lawmakers wrote.