Judge Valerie Robison’s ruling follows two days of testimony last month in a lawsuit brought by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to prevent Peters, Knisley and Fisher from being the designated election official in the upcoming Mesa County primary and midterm elections.
“The Court’s decision today bars Peters from further threatening the integrity of Mesa’s elections and ensures Mesa County residents have the secure and accessible elections they deserve,” Griswold said as part of a statement released by her office following the ruling.
“Clerk Peters’ actions compromised Mesa County’s voting equipment and election security constituting one of the nation’s first insider threats where an election official, risked the integrity of the election system in an effort to prove unfounded conspiracy theories,” Griswold continued, adding, “Clerk Peters subsequently refused to affirm that she would comply with Colorado election rules and laws as the Mesa County DEO.”
CNN has reached out to Peters for comment.
Beginning in April 2021, according to the indictment, in advance of a May 25-26, 2021, trusted build of voting machines, Peters and Knisley “devised and executed a deceptive scheme” to influence public servants, breach security protocols, exceed permissible access to voting equipment and set in motion the eventual distribution of confidential information to unauthorized people. A “trusted build” is “the origin of the chain-of-custody for any software and firmware component of the voting system,” according to the indictment.
Colorado’s primary election is June 28. Clerks must have primary ballots available to voters starting May 27.
