Colorado Governor Jared Polis indicated on March 4 that he is prepared to review a clemency request for Tina Peters, the former county clerk convicted of illegally tampering with voting machines amid claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen. Polis highlighted concerns about inconsistent sentencing between Peters and another public official as a factor in his willingness to consider relief.
Polis pointed to the relatively light penalty given to State Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis - probation and community service - after Lewis was convicted of attempting to influence a public official and related charges. In a post on the social media platform X, Polis noted the apparent discrepancy: "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." He added that justice should be applied evenly and extended the deadline to submit clemency applications to April 3 so he could review the matter.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, the state’s chief elections official, pushed back on the equivalence Polis suggested. Griswold said it was inaccurate to portray the actions of the two officials as having the same impact, asserting that Peters had been responsible for a more serious breach of election security. "Peters organized the breach of the election equipment, broke the public trust and attacked the very foundations of our democratic process," Griswold said in a statement.
Peters, a Republican and vocal supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s unproven assertions that the 2020 election was stolen, was indicted in 2022 after an election security breach at her office resulted in voting equipment passwords being posted on a right-wing blog. Peters denied wrongdoing. She was convicted in 2024 on seven charges, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, and received a nine-year sentence. Under her current sentence structure, she is not eligible for release until November 2028.
Legal counsel for Peters, attorney Peter Ticktin, publicly urged the governor to commute the sentence this week, arguing that the nine-year term was "too harsh." The clemency review window extension gives Polis additional time to consider such requests.
Former President Trump has repeatedly called for Peters’ release from the La Vista Correctional Facility, a state prison in Colorado, and has criticized Polis for not granting clemency. In December, Trump issued a pardon for Peters. That pardon was widely described as symbolic because Peters is not in federal custody and the conviction and sentence are in state court.
As the clemency application deadline has been extended to April 3, the state will await any formal petitions and the governor’s review. The public statements from Polis and Griswold reflect differing views within state government about how to weigh sentencing disparities against the specifics of each case.