Colorado clerk who became hero to election conspiracists set to go on trial for voting system breach

DENVER (AP) — A trial is set to begin Wednesday for former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, a hero to election conspiracy theorists who is accused of orchestrating a breach of election security equipment.

The case against Peters centers around accusations that in May 2021 she allowed a man using someone else’s security badge to make a copy of the Dominion Voting Systems computer’s hard drive while she and an aide watched after turning off surveillance video.

Colorado state election officials became aware of the Mesa County security breach a few months later when a photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were posted on social media and a conservative website after Peters joined Lindell onstage at a “cybersymposium” and promised to reveal proof of election rigging.

Peters, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, argued she had a duty to preserve the results of the election before the voting system was upgraded and that she should not be prosecuted for carrying out her job.

The hard drive copied included proprietary software developed by Dominion Voting Systems that is used by election offices around the country. The Colorado-based company has been the subject of conspiracy theories blaming its election equipment for Trump’s loss. It filed several defamation lawsuits as a result, settling a case against Fox News for $787 million last year.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true»