Colorado clerk urges Supreme Court to block trial over voting machine password leak

WASHINGTON (CN) — A former Colorado election official asked the Supreme Court on Friday for emergency intervention to prevent the start of her trial over leaked voting machine passwords.

Tina Peters, who served as Mesa County’s clerk and recorder during the 2020 election cycle, faces criminal charges for giving a security company unauthorized access to voting machines during a system update in 2021.

In an attempt to avert her July 29 trial, Peters filed an emergency application with the justices, claiming federal elections protections give her immunity from the state’s prosecution.

“An injunction stopping the state trial while this court considers this case is necessary to preserve the status quo and prevent an irreparable injury to the institutional interests of the federal government and to Ms. Peters’ right not to be subjected to state trial for executing her duty under federal law,” Peters wrote in her application.

Peters said prosecutors’ charges relate to her duty to preserve election records as Colorado’s chief election official. She argued her actions reflected official responsibilities under federal law, giving her immunity under the 14th Amendment.

The controversy kicked off when Colorado announced an upgrade to their election management system. Concerned that records of the 2020 presidential would be deleted, prosecutors say Peters hired Gerald Wood to help her back up Dominion voting machines.

A video was then posted on the social media site Telegram and the Gateway Pundit blog of the country’s equipment being updated including system passwords.

Peters’ claims of unusual activity and deleted records were vindicated but an investigation identified those instances as human error, not election fraud.

Colorado prosecutors charged Peters with seven felony counts related to attempting to influence a public servant, impersonation and identity theft. Peters also faces several misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, violating her duties and failing to comply with the secretary of state’s requirements.

Peters pleaded not guilty, claiming the charges were a political hitjob due to her support for former President Donald Trump.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold sued to remove Peters as clerk and recorder for the 2022 elections. Peters decided to run for secretary of state to unseat Griswold. A judge blocked Peters from overseeing county elections and she lost the Republican primary by more than 15 points.

Peters filed a federal lawsuit against a slew of state officials and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, claiming she was wrongly prosecuted in violation of her First Amendment rights.

U.S. District Judge Nina Wang, a Joe Biden appointee, granted Mesa County District Attorney Daniel Rubinstein’s request to dismiss the suit in January. Wang said Peters could present her challenges in state court.

In February, the 10th Circuit refused to delay Peters’ trial while she challenged the ruling. The appeals court terminated her appeal in June.

At the Supreme Court, Peters asked the justices to postpone her trial so they could review her immunity appeal. Peters said supremacy clause immunity had been extensively litigated by the lower courts and the justices’ intervention was overdue.

“Arising as it does from the Constitution’s foundational allocation of power between the federal and state governments, it is critically important that the immunity provided by the supremacy clause for federal actors contending with hostile state officials be properly applied,” Peters wrote.

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