Mesa Co. Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters alleges election integrity issues, nonpartisan expert says evidence is not there

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - David Levine, Elections Integrity Fellow with the nonpartisan German-Marshall Fund, is responding to allegations raised by Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters (R) concerning the integrity of the 2020 election in Mesa Co.

Peters provided KKCO 11 News with an analysis done of a forensic image of the county’s election software. The documents lists a man named Jeffrey O’Donnell as its author. Peters explained that the analysis provides further evidence that the 2020 election in Mesa Co. should be investigated. According to Levine, “It’s frankly hard to make heads or tails of what’s being alleged here.”

The Mesa Co. Clerk and Recorder’s Office is the subject of a criminal investigation over an alleged security breach in May of this year. Peters is alleging wrongdoing on behalf of the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office when it updated county election systems in that same month, and says she is being targeted on political grounds.

Peters asserted that, “These are very simple scare tactics that they are using to intimidate any election official across the country who have the courage to investigate the 2020 elections... I will not be intimidated. I will not go away.”

Levine is saying there is no evidence that there are any discrepancies with 2020 election results in the county, and that the results can be trusted. He argued that, “Is there anything to suggest that the voting equipment had any issues which would have led to ballots being cast and tabulated in a different manner than votes were intended to be cast? And again I don’t see anything in the report that shows that.”

Peters is encouraging residents to look into these matters themselves and make up their own minds. “Don’t take my word for it. Do your own research. And then decide for yourself because I believe the future of the republic is hanging in the balance here,” explained Peters.

21st Judicial District Court Judge Valerie J. Robison did find that Peters and Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley acted improperly in a civil case related to investigations into the Clerk and Recorders office. Investigations being conducted by 21st Judicial District Attorney Dan Rubinstein (R) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation into the matter are ongoing.

Clerk Peters is also facing a legal action related to allegedly taking campaign donations above allowable limits and not officially declaring her 2022 candidacy, among other charges. The Colo. Attorney General’s Office is serving as the Sec. of State’s counsel in that lawsuit.

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