Election Officials Face Partisan Scrutiny, and Sometimes Legal Consequences

As polarization over election integrity rises, officials across the country are under the microscope. Some may even end up in prison.

Data Divulged in Colorado: Last Thursday, Colorado sentenced former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters to nine years in prison for copying and distributing election data. Washington Post (Lean Left bias) quoted the judge reprimanding Peters, Colorado's Democratic attorney general and secretary of state praising the decision, and Peters saying she didn't deserve criminal treatment. The article also noted that "Peters did not stop promoting baseless information after facing charges," citing a recent podcast appearance.

Double Votes in Michigan: On Friday, Michigan's attorney general charged four voters for deliberately voting twice in the state's primary election and three election workers for aiding them. A writer for Daily Signal (Right) tied the crimes to Democrats for "opposing voter ID measures and other election reforms" while insisting "voter fraud isn’t real." The article didn't report which party's primary saw double-voting, but noted that the Republican county prosecutor had "investigated and declined to bring criminal charges" before the Democratic attorney general stepped in.

Alarm Over Electoral Skeptics: Reuters (Center) found that "nearly half" of the election boards for the largest counties in the closest seven states "had at least one member who has expressed pro-Trump skepticism about the electoral process." Though it noted that local boards are unlikley to successfuly block an election, Reuters expressed concern that the officials could delay certification and create an "opening for Trump and his Republican allies in Congress to try to overturn results."