A judge has dismissed criminal charges against 15 Republican alternate electors who were accused of falsely certifying the 2020 election results in favor of President Donald Trump in Michigan, Breitbart reported. The decision on Tuesday ends the case against the "false electors" brought by Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel two years ago.
There were originally 16 judges accused of certifying the election erroneously declaring Trump the winner, until one of the judges agreed to turn state's witness. District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons dismissed the remaining cases on the grounds that the electors were acting in good faith.
Simmons determined that there was no intent to defraud the government, but rather that the defendants were responding to suspicions that Joe Biden did not win that election fair and square. "I believe they were executing their constitutional right to seek redress," Simmons said in her ruling.
This was an opinion shared by many Americans, as a November 2020 survey showed that fewer than half of Americans believed Biden won the election. The dismissal of this case represents a positive step toward reconciling the fallout from the 2020 presidential election and addressing the concerns of individuals who sought to have their claims regarding the election's veracity heard.
According to Fox News, Nessel filed the case at a time when Trump was also the target of an investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The court stated that the group of 16 met on December 14, 2020, at what was then the Michigan Republican Party headquarters, with the intention of certifying the election for Trump despite Biden having been declared the winner.
They each signed several documents certifying that they were the state's electors in an effort to secure the state's electoral votes for Trump. These documents were sent to the National Archives and Congress, making it official, which Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said warranted "accountability and justice" as the U.S. was supposedly "still in the midst of a nationally coordinated effort to weaken democracy" when the charges were filed.
For this, the 16 were facing eight criminal charges, each carrying a sentence of between five and 14 years in prison. The charges included forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery. Those implicated included prominent members of the Michigan GOP, such as Kathy Berden, head of the state's Republican National Committee chapter; Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party; and Stan Grot, Shelby Township Clerk.
Other states had similar issues with electors attempting to give the victory to Trump, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. "As we prepare for the 2024 presidential election, today’s charges are the first in an ongoing effort to not just seek justice for the wrongs of the past but to ensure they do not happen again," Benson said at the time.
Now that the case has been tossed, Nessel released a statement making bloated claims about the defendants. "The false electors' actions undermined the public's faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan," Nessel said.
As Politico reported, there is no federal law governing how electors are supposed to treat their filings, as it is dependent on each state. Many of those who submitted their certificates did so on the basis that Trump was suing to overturn the election and that they would be ready to cast their vote for him if that were the case.
The situation was unprecedented, and so the states did not have a roadmap to respond to these so-called fake electors. However, some believed that this issue was intentionally framed as a scandal rather than as an issue of readiness. As Charlie Kirk pointed out in April 2024, it is completely within the states' rights to retain "alternate" electors.
"There is no such thing as a 'fake elector.' There are ALTERNATE electors. There are COMPETING SLATES of electors," Kirk wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter. "It's a Democrat precedent from 1960. CNN's Van Jones advocated for them in 2020. Harvard Professor Larry Lessig advocated for them in 2020. Democrats and their media flacks are attempting to criminalize a concept they themselves invented and have utilized with impunity."
There is no such thing as a "fake elector."
There are ALTERNATE electors.
There are COMPETING SLATES of electors.It's a Democrat precedent from 1960. CNN's Van Jones advocated for them in 2020. Harvard Professor Larry Lessig advocated for them in 2020.
Democrats and their…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) April 25, 2024
The political atmosphere following the 2020 presidential election was one of upheaval and uncertainty, as many believed Trump would successfully overturn the election results and were prepared for it. As a result, the legal system attempted to go after Trump and his supporters, but this dismissal is one of the last wrongs to be righted from that time.
