Voting Data From A Colorado County Was Leaked Online. Now, The Clerk Is In Hiding

Enlarge this image


Supporters of Mesa County clerk Tina Peters appear at a rally for her last month in Grand Junction, Colo. Peters is under investigation for the unauthorized release of sensitive information about voting equipment.





Stina Stieg/CPR News



hide caption



toggle caption


Stina Stieg/CPR News



Untangling Disinformation
After Data Is Posted On Conspiracy Site, Colorado County’s Voting Machines Are Banned



Untangling Disinformation
Election Defamation Lawsuits Open New Front In Fight Against Disinformation

One reason why the Mesa County security breach is particularly significant is because it uses equipment from Dominion Voting Systems, one of the country’s biggest vendors of election equipment. The company is also at the center of many of the conspiracy theories about the 2020 election that claim the ballot counting was somehow rigged against former President Donald Trump. (Dominion is pursuing a number of defamation suits against both pro-Trump news outlets and Trump advisers over the conspiracy theories.)

While most election officials around the country have spent the better part of the last year and a half fighting conspiracy theories spouted by Trump and his allies, Peters seemed to embrace the falsehoods and fueled them.



Untangling Disinformation
Death Threats And Conspiracy Theories: Why 2020 Won’t End For Election Officials

Just as state officials announced a probe, Peters was attending and speaking at a conference hosted by Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow, that pushed more falsehoods about the 2020 election.

«I’ve listened to people. I looked at it objectively and there’s some discrepancies there that I cannot deny. And I tell people, I say, ‘I can’t unsee some of these things,’ Peters told attendees at the conference.


‘She needs to come back to work’






Enlarge this image


The Mesa County clerk and recorder’s offices in Grand Junction.





Hart Van Denburg/CPR News



hide caption



toggle caption


Hart Van Denburg/CPR News



Untangling Disinformation
How Pro-Trump Local News Sites Keep Pushing 2020 Election Misinformation

The problems at the clerk’s office extend beyond Peters. On Thursday her deputy, Belinda Knisley, was charged with second-degree burglary and a cybercrime for entering the building while she was suspended, pending an investigation for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct in the workplace.

Earlier this week, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold filed a lawsuit to officially prevent Peters from having any role in the county’s upcoming fall election.

Mesa County is a conservative area where voters strongly backed Trump last fall. While some residents say they want Peters voted out of office or recalled, she also has vocal backers. Recently, several hundred supporters gathered for a rally outside of the clerk’s office, chanting, «We love Tina!

«I feel that there was definitely election fraud and we need to get to the bottom of it, said Shelly Lucas, who lives in the area and attended the rally. «It’s been in every county, every state. And I want to know about it.


‘[S]o completely outside the norm’


Colorado’s audits show that there were no problems with the state’s election. In fact, election officials from around the country consider the state to have some of the best-run elections in the U.S. There are paper ballots and post-election audits to make sure the tallies match what the machines count.

Mesa County has had to spend nearly a million dollars to renew a contract with Dominion after the state banned the compromised machines from being used this fall. In particular, local prosecutors and the FBI have open investigations into whether Peters gave an unauthorized person access to the voting machine software. So far, no criminal charges have been filed against her.





Enlarge this image


Matt Masterson, a former election security advisor to the federal government, during congressional testimony in 2019.





Susan Walsh/AP



hide caption



toggle caption


Susan Walsh/AP



Untangling Disinformation
Newsmax Issues Retraction And Apology To Dominion Employee Over Election Stories

This incident has made Masterson fearful about the 2022 elections.

«[F]or these ongoing conspiracies and lies to continue to be perpetrated for political and financial gain, is sad and sells out our democracy at a time when election officials risk their health and safety to do this.

Masterson says if there isn’t accountability in Mesa County, he worries other partisan-minded election officials could be inspired to act the same way.