Polis fires Colorado clemency board members after public opposition to Peters’s commutation

Published July 2, 2026 9:27am ET



Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) fired two clemency board members who publicly disclosed their vote against commuting Tina Peters, breaking confidentiality law.

Republican Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters became a cause celebre among Republicans, including President Donald Trump, after she was sentenced to nine years in prison over her conviction in a 2024 plot to tamper with voting machines. Polis controversially commuted her sentence on June 1, outraging many Democrats. Two members of Colorado’s Executive Clemency Advisory Board, a confidential governor-appointed board tasked with advising the governor on commutations and pardons, released an op-ed June 18 in the Denver Post bashing the decision and revealing details about it, resulting in their firing on Wednesday.

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