Polis Clemency for Tina Peters Turns Into an Election Trust Fight

The Denver Post publishes a guest opinion from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and Boulder County Clerk and Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick blasting Gov. Jared Polis for granting clemency to Tina Peters. They argue Polis’ decision undermines the rule of law, emboldens election denialism, and sends a dangerous message to people who would attack Colorado’s elections. In other words, two election officials stepped up to lecture the peasants about dangerous viewpoints, which is always a comforting little bedtime story from the ruling class.

The piece acknowledges that the Colorado Court of Appeals affirmed Peters’ convictions while also noting concern that her free speech rights may have been improperly considered in the original sentencing, which is why the court directed that she be resentenced. Griswold and Fitzpatrick argue Polis should have let that judicial process play out rather than commute the sentence himself. They also say Colorado remains a national leader in secure and accessible voting, with election officials ensuring every eligible voter can participate and every valid ballot is counted.

The Bullet Point Brief

• Griswold and Fitzpatrick say Polis made a “profound mistake” by granting clemency to Peters. That is rich, coming from a secretary of state whose own halo has needed a few trips through the wash.
• They argue the courts were already handling the First Amendment concerns because Peters was headed for resentencing. Fair point. Also convenient that “trust the process” only becomes sacred when the process is moving in their preferred direction.
• The authors claim clemency emboldens the election denialism movement and increases threats to election workers. Threats are wrong. Full stop. But questioning government systems is not a crime, no matter how many officials wish public skepticism came with a mute button.
• They insist Colorado elections are secure, accessible, and professionally run. Maybe they are. But repeating “trust us” while scolding the people asking questions is not how you build trust. It is how you build a bigger line of people with questions.
• The whole piece reads like a warning label against dissent: ask too many questions, and suddenly you are part of a “movement” threatening democracy. That is not civic confidence. That is bureaucratic panic wearing a blazer.

My Bottom Line

Isn’t this rich? The embattled secretary of state and a Boulder clerk have arrived to lecture normal Colorado about dangerous viewpoints. Thank heavens. I was worried we might get through one full week without a sermon from the Ministry of Approved Confidence.

Let me be candid. I have not dug into every allegation of election fraud. That is why we have clerks and recorders. That is why we have election officials. That is why we have processes, audits, courts, rules, and all the other machinery that is supposed to keep the public’s trust. But here is the problem: public trust is not improved by officials screaming “dangerous” every time someone asks why the machine is making that noise.

The massive turnout in 2020 raised eyebrows for a lot of people. Mail-in ballots are convenient, no doubt. People like convenience. I like convenience. But let’s not pretend mail-in voting is beyond question. It is also the system that leaves the most room for gamesmanship, confusion, ballot chain concerns, and public suspicion. You do not fix that suspicion by calling everyone a conspiracy theorist and then climbing back into the bunker.

Constituents ask me to “do something” about elections. I am not always sure what, exactly, is within my lane. But I do believe this: Colorado needs a thorough, serious, confidence-building audit of its election system. Not a partisan circus. Not a performative shouting match. A real look under the hood. If everything is as clean and secure as officials say, wonderful. Prove it so clearly that reasonable people can breathe again.

And that is the part Griswold and company never seem to understand. More and more people are questioning the system. Trust is low. If I were in charge of elections, I would spend less time lecturing and more time opening the blinds. Shakespeare gave us the line about protesting too much. The modern Colorado version is simpler: why do election officials scream so loudly when citizens ask questions?

Source: The Denver Post