LAS VEGAS – Recently, a judge decided to dismiss a case against six Nevada Republicans who were accused of submitting a fake certificate that falsely claimed Donald Trump won the state’s 2020 presidential election. This ruling is part of a larger trend where efforts to prosecute fake electors in swing states have faced significant hurdles.
The case in Nevada was among several that have been dismissed across the country. Similar cases in Arizona, Michigan, and Georgia have also seen dismissals. In Arizona, Attorney General Kris Mayes recently dropped her office’s criminal case but expressed intentions to return it to a grand jury for further consideration, hoping to secure an indictment.
Nevada’s Attorney General, Aaron Ford, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, initially brought charges against the six Republicans for forgery and presenting a false document. The accused, including Michael McDonald, the chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, the former chair of the Clark County Republican Party, pleaded not guilty. Ford’s office has announced plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, these six Republican electors held a ceremony outside the Nevada Legislature where they signed a certificate awarding the state’s electoral votes to Trump, even though Biden had won by a considerable margin of over 30,000 votes. The event was streamed online, and the recording was later used as evidence in the case.
The heart of the case revolved around the intentions of the defendants when they submitted the certificate. Prosecutors argued that the electors meant for their document to be mistaken for legitimate electoral votes that then-Vice President Mike Pence would count on January 6, 2021. Conversely, the defendants claimed that their actions were merely “political theater” aimed at voicing their concerns about the election results, asserting no intent to mislead government officials.
Judge Mary Kay Holthus agreed with the defendants, stating there was insufficient evidence to prove they acted with fraudulent intent. She noted that the electors had publicly stated their reasons and intentions, which undermined the idea that they were trying to deceive anyone. “The fact that Defendants openly announced both their actions and their asserted purpose, rather than concealing their conduct or attempting to secretly induce governmental reliance, weighs against a reasonable inference that they acted with fraudulent intent,” Holthus wrote in her ruling.
Jurisdiction also played a role in the case, which ultimately landed in Clark County, a Democratic-leaning area that includes Las Vegas. Similar dismissals have occurred in other states, including Michigan and Georgia, while a federal case against Trump for attempting to overturn the 2020 election was dropped after he won reelection against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Meanwhile, a separate fake electors case is still ongoing in Wisconsin.
