MESA COUNTY, Colo. — As the nation prepares for the 2024 presidential election, there are still remnants of rhetoric used following the 2020 results.
Conspiracies around election integrity can be found across the country. In Colorado, former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters has become the poster child for inflaming such falsehoods.
Peters was convicted in August of first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty, failure to comply with requirements of the Secretary of State, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, and three counts of attempt to influence a public servant. On Thursday, Colorado District Judge Matthew Barrett sentenced her to nine years behind bars.
Peters was acquitted of the charges of identity theft, criminal impersonation, and one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation.
Politics
Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years for voting data scheme
In court on Thursday, Peters told the judge she was "very taken back by how awful I've been depicted when I was just trying to do my job." In return, Judge Barrett said Peters was "as defiant of a defendant as this court has ever seen.”
“You have no respect for the checks and balances of government. You have no respect for this court. You have no respect for law enforcement, and you did not have respect for your fellow colleagues when you were a clerk and recorder who weren't lockstep in your beliefs," Judge Barrett said.
Judge Barrett said Peters' belief in her own echo chamber led her to tamper with election systems.
“This thought process, unfortunately, seems to consume so many in our country, regardless of race, gender, political affiliation or the like, that what it is we hear and think can't possibly be wrong," Judge Barrett said.
One of the people who addressed the court on Thursday was Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association. He described the courtroom as surreal, tense, and angry.
“She undermined the security of her own office. She brought somebody into the office using credentials that weren't their own. She turned off her cameras to her election area, which had been on nonstop, continuously for 10 years. She allowed the image of her election software to go out into the public where bad actors can study that, look for vulnerabilities and do nefarious things if they get actual physical access to the components," Crane said. “I don't think people realize just how serious the nature of her crimes really are."
Watch the sentencing in the video player below:
While speaking to the courtroom, Crane explained how Colorado laws have changed as a result of Peters.
“There was no teeth in the law before this for clerks who were negligent in their duty, like Tina has been. Since then, we've adjusted the law here in Colorado so that if you don't get certified within six months, then you can be removed as a designated election official in your jurisdiction," Crane explained.
For Crane, Thursday was a good day — a day when justice was served — but the impact of Peters' actions is far from over.
“Clerks are going to come to their office each and every day committed to rebuilding this," said Crane, speaking about the trust they are working to instill again in Colorado voters. “We have to be slow and methodical but incredibly persistent to get the truth out there and engage aggressively in the public square, which is something we never used to do.”
According to Crane, the national rhetoric spurred by former President Donald Trump had "everything" to do with the Peters case.
“You take a clerk who didn't really know her job, she didn't really study, she didn't get certified like she was supposed to, she missed out on trainings that she could have taken advantage of. So, she didn't know what she was supposed to be doing or how her systems worked," Crane said. “When you hear the president of the United States, of your party, say, 'Oh, these machines are crooked,' rather than doing what she should have done and learn her job and what her systems really do, she went down this other path of illegal activities that ultimately led her to facing the next nine years in jail.”
Crane said there is no question that this case is centered around the 2020 presidential election.
"I think she was looking for fame and fortune, trying to be the one that could prove the fraud," said Crane. “What she found was that, you know, justice was going to prevail, and unfortunately for her, she's looking at a lot of time in jail.”
The local and national denial of the 2020 election results has many unintended consequences, Crane believes.
“There's no question — some voters have just stopped voting because they think that it's all rigged. And so if it's rigged, why should they vote?” Crane explained. “It's happened all across the country. It's happened here in Colorado, too. We still have people now in Colorado who believe in what Tina Peters did, think what she did is right. They won't listen to the subject matter expert in their own county. And that creates a hostile environment. It creates death threats, and then people to go off on these wild goose chases.”
The hostility toward election workers has created a dangerous environment in many cases, according to Crane. Despite that, he said clerks throughout Colorado are committed to regaining the trust of their communities.
“Elections are never perfect, but that doesn't mean we don't chase perfection," Crane said. "But if you have questions, come into your clerk and recorder's office, ask questions, but be willing to listen to the truth."
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