Colorado Gov. Polis commutes former clerk's sentence

Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk convicted for her role in a 2021 breach of election equipment, was released from a Colorado prison on Monday. Her release came weeks after Democratic Governor Jared Polis commuted her nine-year sentence, cutting it in half. Peters, 70, served approximately 20 months at the La Vista Correctional Facility in Pueblo.

Peters was convicted in 2024 on seven counts, including felonies for attempting to influence a public servant and conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation. The charges stemmed from an incident in which she allowed an unauthorized individual affiliated with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to copy data from the county's Dominion Voting Systems equipment during a software update. That data was later posted online, fueling baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

Governor Polis announced the commutation on May 15, stating that after reviewing the facts and a recent appeals court ruling, he concluded the original sentence was too long for a first-time, nonviolent offender. The Colorado Court of Appeals had upheld Peters' convictions in April but ordered a resentencing, finding the trial judge improperly considered...