Peters, a 2020 reelectionist, faces 10 charges — including three felony counts of attempting to influence a public official, one felony count of forgery, two felony counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one felony count of identity theft and a misdemeanor count of official misconduct first degree, dereliction of duty and failure to comply with the requirements of the Colorado Secretary of State — following an apparent security breach at a Mesa County election office in May 2021.
Last month, Peters’ deputy, Belinda Knisley, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for her cooperation and testimony against Peters. According to the signed plea agreement, Knisley told investigators that Peters created a scheme that allowed an unauthorized person to access secure areas inside the clerk’s office and county election equipment. Knisley told investigators the person gained access after being given a badge she and Peters fraudulently created.
The breach resulted in confidential logins of voting machines and forensic images of their hard drives, which were posted on a QAnon-affiliated Telegram channel in early August 2021.
In May, following a lawsuit by Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a district judge removed Peters from her post overseeing this year’s Mesa County elections. Peters, who has denied wrongdoing, has publicly argued that the investigation was partisan and politically motivated.
Peters emerged as a prominent figure on the far right in Colorado after supporting former President Donald Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Peters has sought the Republican nomination for Colorado secretary of state — a position that would allow her to take over the voting machinery in a state that conducts elections entirely by mail, a process she has falsely claimed is riddled with fraud and said she wants to scrap
But Republicans rejected Peters’ bid, instead nominating Pam Anderson, a former county clerk who championed the integrity of Colorado’s elections and ran as someone to oversee the process.
