Polis commutes – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis commuted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters’ prison sentence, granting her parole effective June 1 while keeping her conviction intact—an abrupt move Democrats condemned, as President Donald Trump had pressed for her release.
When Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday that he was commuting Tina Peters’ prison term, the decision landed with immediate political force—praised by President Donald Trump and met with sharp condemnation from fellow Colorado Democrats.
Peters. the former Mesa County Clerk. was serving time after being convicted last summer on seven counts tied to allowing unauthorized access to voting machines following the 2020 presidential election.. Polis said he granted clemency to her and 43 others, and that Peters will receive parole effective June 1.. The governor made clear the move does not erase the conviction.
Polis’ action came after months of pressure from Trump. who has repeatedly promoted false claims of widespread election fraud and had threatened “harsh measures” if Colorado did not free Peters.. In the hours after Polis’ announcement, Trump celebrated the decision on Truth Social, writing: “FREE TINA!”
Peters’ case centers on what prosecutors called a deceptive scheme to get an unauthorized person access to Mesa County voting machines in 2021.. Prosecutors said images from the county’s voting equipment later surfaced online.. At sentencing. Judge Matthew Barrett described Peters as “charlatan” and “as defiant as a defendant as this court has ever seen.”
Polis said in a letter to Peters that her multiyear prison term was “an extremely unusual and lengthy sentence for a first time offender who committed nonviolent crimes.” He also said he agreed with a state appeals court ruling issued last month. which upheld the conviction but ordered that Peters be resentenced after finding the trial judge placed too much weight on her beliefs about election fraud.
In a separate comment to The Colorado Sun on Friday, Polis said Peters received an “unduly harsh sentence” due to “her incorrect and unpopular speech,” while drawing a line between commuting her term and pardoning her.
“She’s a convicted felon. She deserves to be a convicted felon. She will remain a convicted felon,” Polis said.
The decision triggered immediate backlash across Colorado Democratic leadership. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold called it a “gross injustice to our elections, election workers and democracy with far reaching consequences.”
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who is campaigning to succeed Polis as governor, said on X that he “vehemently disagree[s]” with the commutation. “She broke the law, undermined our elections, and was convicted by a jury of her peers,” Bennet wrote.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, also a Democrat, described the move as “mind-boggling and wrong as a matter of basic justice,” adding that “Caving in to this president will only lead to more abuse from the bullying Trump administration. Today is a sad day for Colorado and the rule of law.”
For Polis. the commutation appears to rest on what he described as the length and unusual nature of the sentence and the appellate court’s finding that too much emphasis was placed on Peters’ election-fraud beliefs.. For Peters, it means an early step out of prison—while still carrying the conviction that led her there.
Jared Polis Tina Peters Mesa County clerk voting machine tampering commuted sentence parole clemency Donald Trump election fraud claims Colorado Democrats Jena Griswold Michael Bennet Phil Weiser