Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday commuted the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters â the former election clerk convicted in connection with a 2021 voting equipment breach case that became a flashpoint in the election integrity fight â drawing immediate backlash from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and praise from President , who posted “FREE TINA!” on Truth Social.
Polis announced , including 35 pardons and nine commutations, according to the governors office. Peters was among those granted a commutation reducing her prison sentence and granting parole effective June 1, 2026.
“The Clemency power is a serious responsibility, and not one that I take lightly,” Polis said in a statement announcing the clemency actions.
“This power has the ability to change lives – help grant a second chance for someone who has made grave mistakes – and it comes with great consideration, and sometimes even controversy,” he added.
The move immediately prompted a blistering response from Griswold, who accused Polis of legitimizing “the election denial movement.”
“This clemency grant to Tina Peters is an affront to our democracy, the people of Colorado, and election officials across the country,” Griswold said in a statement Friday.
“The Governors actions today will validate and embolden the election denial movement, and leave a dark, dangerous imprint on American democracy for years to come,” she added.
According to the signed Friday, Peters sentence was commuted from 8 years and 3 months to 4 years and 4.5 months. The order grants her parole effective June 1, 2026, with conditions to be set by the Colorado Parole Board.
“Tina M. Peters be and hereby is granted a limited commutation such that her total sentence, inclusive of time in County Jail and the Department of Corrections, is commuted to 4 years and 4.5 months, and that she is granted parole effective June 1, 2026,” the order states.
The executive order also explicitly noted that the clemency action “shall not in any way affect the .”
Polis wrote in the order that “the constitutional and statutory conditions for granting this clemency petition have been satisfied, and the interest of justice.”
According to the executive order, Peters was convicted in 2024 of three counts of attempt to influence a public servant, along with conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation – cause liability, official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with secretary of state requirements.
She had been sentenced to 8 years and 3 months in Department of Corrections custody, along with 6 months in county jail. Her mandatory release date had previously been listed in 2033, while her estimated parole eligibility date had been in 2028.
Griswolds office said Peters actions stemmed from a 2021 breach involving Mesa County voting equipment.
“In 2021, then-Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters compromised her countys voting equipment trying to prove conspiracies,” Griswolds office said in a release Friday.
The office said Griswold responded by decertifying the countys voting equipment, working with Mesa County commissioners to remove Peters from election oversight and appointing a former Republican secretary of state to oversee the election process.
Griswolds office also said Peters actions cost Mesa County “nearly one million dollars in replacement equipment.”
The secretary of states office noted that on April 2, 2026, the Peters convictions while ordering that she be re-sentenced by the district court.
Trump weighed in on the commutation Friday afternoon with a brief Truth Social post reading simply: “FREE TINA!”
Peters became a nationally known figure among 2020 election skeptics following the Mesa County voting equipment breach controversy and .
Fridays clemency order immediately deepened political divisions surrounding one of the highest-profile criminal
