Election Administration and Security

A Colorado appeals panel questioned the nine‑year sentence handed to former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters for a voting‑system breach, pressing state lawyers on whether the trial judge factored in her election‑fraud rhetoric and possibly punished protected speech. Peters, who has received a full pardon from Donald Trump — which her lawyer says should apply to state charges and might affect the appeals court’s jurisdiction — faces resistance from Colorado officials even as Gov. Jared Polis has called the sentence harsh.