Nevada Supreme Court allows prosecution of 2020 alternate electors to proceed

The Nevada Supreme Court is allowing the prosecution of 2020 alternate electors to proceed after a legal fight over venue tied it up for more than a year.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford originally filed the case in Democratic-leaning Clark County, but a state judge dismissed it last year after finding that the charges should have been brought in Carson City, the state capital, where the electoral votes were cast, The Hill news outlet reported.

The court ruled Thursday that the defendants should be charged in Clark County because they allegedly mailed their electoral vote certificates to a federal judge there.  

“We conclude that venue was properly laid in Clark County because the offenses charged were not complete upon mailing but rather necessarily involved the receipt of the certificates at the location to which they were mailed,” Justice Lidia Stiglich wrote.

The GOP electors who have been charged are Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, Jesse Law, Jim DeGraffenreid, Durward James Hindle III, Shawn Meehan, and Eileen Rice. President Trump pardoned all of them on Sunday, along with 71 other people across the country, for attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's pardon applies to federal offenses, not state.

Ford told The Hill on Monday that Trump's pardons would have “no bearing on our decision-making or prosecution under Nevada state law.” 

The six defendants have pleaded not guilty to felony charges of offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged document, which carry penalties of up to four or five years in prison.  

Ford said Thursday that the state Supreme Court’s decision affirmed what his office has maintained “all along.”  

“The 2020 fake electors cannot evade accountability in Nevada for their unlawful actions,” he added. “As attorney general, it is my duty to hold those who sought to undermine the results of our state’s free and fair election responsible.” 

After the results of the election showed Trump had lost, such electorates in seven swing states signed electoral certificates stating that Trump won the election in their states. 

Ford said he intends to resume the case in Clark County following the state Supreme Court’s ruling.