Tina Peters plans Supreme Court bid while convictions are upheld in Colorado

DENVER (KDVR) — Former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is out of prison, but her legal fight is far from over.

Her attorney, Peter Ticktin, told Nexstar’s KDVR that he is preparing to take her case to the Supreme Court in hopes of overturning her criminal convictions stemming from a 2021 breach of Mesa County’s election equipment.

The effort is drawing differing reactions from Peters’ legal team and Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, who says the jury reached the correct verdict.

Peters was convicted in August 2024 on seven criminal counts connected to the election equipment breach. Prosecutors said she helped an unauthorized person gain access to the county’s voting equipment during a software update.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) commuted Peters’ prison sentence, but her convictions remain in place.

Attorney said Peters was protecting election records

Ticktin argued that Peters was attempting to preserve election data she believed could be lost during a software update.

He maintains that Peters was fulfilling her responsibilities under federal election record retention laws rather than committing a crime.

“She’s an innocent woman who was doing her duty to America, and she was punished severely for that,” Ticktin told KDVR.

Ticktin argued that federal law should have taken precedence over state restrictions governing access to election equipment.

“If you have to do something to make sure that you abide by a federal statute, even if it violates a state statute, you’re allowed to do that,” Ticktin said.

That interpretation is part of the argument he hopes to bring before the Supreme Court. It has not been accepted as a legal defense to Peters’ convictions.

Ticktin also contended that Peters did not receive a fair trial and that she was........

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