US court orders resentencing for Colorado clerk involved in election scheme

Former clerk Tina Peters has become a cause celebre for the election denial movement and President Donald Trump.An appeals court in the state of Colorado has ordered the resentencing of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of involvement in an election meddling scheme in the United States.The court overturned Peters’s nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, but not her conviction for helping to tamper with voting machines after the 2020 presidential race.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3One month in, disapproval high but US lawmakers take no action on Iran warlist 2 of 3FBI agents who investigated Trump file lawsuit alleging retaliatory firinglist 3 of 3How falsehoods drove Trump’s immigration crackdown in his first 100 daysend of listHer case has become a cause celebre for President Donald Trump and the election denial movement, after it emerged that she was seeking evidence to support Trump’s false claim that his 2020 loss was due to massive fraud.In Thursday’s decision, the three-judge appeals panel ruled that a lower court had considered Peters’s personal beliefs when deciding upon a punishment, thereby rendering the sentence improper.“The trial court’s comments about Peters’s belief in the existence of 2020 election fraud went beyond relevant considerations for her sentencing,” the appeals court wrote.The panel cited comments from Judge Matthew Barrett, who blasted Peters as a “charlatan” promoting “snake oil” claims.“Her offence was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,” the appeals court said. “It was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.”Peters was convicted in August 2024 for helping someone from outside the government gain access to the Mesa County election system and make copies.That person was affiliated with efforts to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss, and the copies they obtained were then shared on social media.False claims that the 2020 election was marred by massive fraud have been a persistent fixation for Trump and his allies, even after his successful re-election in 2024.