Disgraced former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters will have her nine-year sentence for tampering with Colorado's election systems in the 2020 election cut in half, Colorado officials say.
State Gov. Jared Polis told the Scripps News Group Friday he was granting Peters clemency — a move Colorado’s top election official has repeatedly warned will embolden further election denialism in the state.
The governor’s decision to commute Peters’ sentence comes more than a month after a Colorado Court of Appeals judge ruled her original sentence should be thrown out because her conviction was based, in part, on improper consideration for Peters’ right to free speech.
WATCH: Breaking down the Tina Peters clemency announcement
“I never considered pardoning her, to be clear,” Gov. Polis told Scripps News Group anchor Jessica Porter earlier Friday. “She committed a crime, deserves to be a convicted felon, deserves to do the time. But what happened – and I agree with the appeals court — she has unpopular, and, in my opinion, incorrect opinions. Those should not be a factor in her sentencing. Her sentencing should be about the crime she committed, which people should also understand. It had nothing to do with the presidential election.”
Peters was convicted in August 2024 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. Prosecutors at the time said she was motivated by false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
As part of her clemency, Peters could also be eligible for parole starting next month, Polis told Scripps News Group.
Though the governor’s decision is somewhat surprising, Polis had repeatedly dropped hints that he was moving toward commuting Peters’ sentence – even as he faced a bipartisan push to keep Peters imprisoned.
In a January interview with another TV station, the governor suggested he was “looking at” revisiting Peters’ case, describing the judge’s sentence as “harsh.” And just over two months ago, Polis again signaled he was considering clemency for the disgraced former county clerk after extending a deadline for clemency applications.
Polis said that in her application for clemency, Peters admitted she had made a mistake and that she will follow the law going forward. During her sentencing, Peters was unapologetic and insisted that everything she did was geared toward trying to unroot what she believed was election fraud, further claiming her actions were done for the greater good.
“I don't expect her to change what she believes, I don’t want her to lie about what she believes,” Polis said when asked whether he believed Peters had shown any remorse for orchestrating a security breach of her elections computer system. “She's free to go out there and be a person on the street talking about whatever conspiracy she wants to her heart's desire, but that should not be a factor in the sentencing for the crime that she committed. And four and a half years is a tough but also fair sentence for that crime.”
Colorado election officials are unlikely to be happy about Peters’ commutation.
In a joint letter signed by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and officials from the Colorado County Clerk’s Association, the state election officials renewed previous calls urging the governor not to pardon Peters, arguing that doing so would “validate her actions and embolden election denialism in Colorado and across the country.”
A potential pardon or commutation, they wrote, “would send the demoralizing message to those of us who protect our elections and democracy – our county clerks, their staff, election judges, and Secretary of State staff – that our work is meaningless.”
What’s unclear is how President Trump will respond to the news of Peters commutation. Earlier this year, the president pardoned Peters, but in its ruling last month, the Colorado Court of Appeals reiterated what legal experts have previously said – presidential pardons do not apply to state convictions.
This story was originally published by Óscar Contreras with the Scripps News Group station in Denver, Colorado.
