Tina Peters, a Colorado election clerk, had her prison sentence commuted on Friday by Colorado’s governor, Jared Polis, after months of pressure from Donald Trump and other conservatives.
The move drew immediate rebuke from Colorado Democrats, including the US senator and former governor John Hickenlooper.
“Tina Peters is guilty as sin and a disgrace to Colorado,” Hickenlooper wrote on Friday on social media. “She tried to undermine Colorado’s free and fair election system … Reducing her sentence sends the wrong message to those seeking to undermine trust in our elections and it will do nothing to deter Donald Trump’s illegal attacks on Colorado.”
But who exactly is Peters?
Peters was the county clerk in western Colorado’s Mesa county in 2020 when she allowed an unauthorized person to use a security badge and access her county’s voting equipment. Passwords and other sensitive information related to the county’s election equipment later became public and were used by election deniers to try to question the 2020 election results.
In 2024, a jury found Peters guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with the secretary of state. She was sentenced to nine years in prison.
Trump repeatedly urged Polis to pardon Peters as part of a continued effort to spread false information about the 2020 election. Earlier this year, he issued a federal pardon for Peters, which had no bearing on her case because she was convicted of state crimes. Trump’s pressure campaign coincided with several federal decisions that hurt Colorado, including moving to shutter a key climate lab in the state.
Peters’ case has been a cause celebre among Trump and supporters because she remains the only person incarcerated for attempting to overturn the 2020 election after Trump issued sweeping pardons to those involved in the January 6 riot and aides who assisted with the false elector scheme.
Polis suggested in March that he was considering some form of clemency for Peters, after Trump issued a stream of threats to withhold funds from Colorado.
Writing on social media then, Polis compared Peters’ case to that of a former state senator, Sonya Jaquez Lewis, who was also convicted of four felonies, including an attempt to influence a public official. Lewis was sentenced to probation and community service. Lewis’s charges came from forged letters she submitted from staff as part of a legislative inquiry into whether she mistreated aides.
“It is not lost on me that she was convicted of the exact same felony charge as Tina Peters – attempting to influence a public official – and yet Tina Peters, as a non-violent first time offender got a nine year sentence,” Polis wrote on X. “Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law. This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities.”
Polis’s commutation reduces Peters’ sentence from eight and a half years to four and a half. She is now scheduled to be released on 1 June.
Sam Levine contributed reporting
