Pretend certificates had been submitted within the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In New Mexico and Pennsylvania, pretend electors added a caveat saying the certificates was submitted in case they had been later acknowledged as duly elected, certified electors. That will solely have been potential if Trump had gained any of a number of dozen authorized battles he waged in opposition to states within the weeks after the election.
President Joe Biden gained the 2020 vote in New Mexico by roughly 11 proportion factors — the biggest margin among the many states the place so-called pretend electors have been implicated.
In December, a Nevada grand jury indicted six Republicans with felony fees of providing a false instrument for submitting and uttering a solid instrument, in reference to false election certificates. They’ve pleaded not guilt.
Michigan’s Legal professional Common filed felony fees in July 2023 in opposition to 16 Republican pretend electors, who would face eight legal fees together with forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, although one had fees dropped after reaching a cooperation deal. The highest cost carried a most penalty of 14 years in jail.
Three pretend electors even have been charged in Georgia, the place they had been charged alongside Trump in a sweeping indictment accusing them of taking part in a wide-ranging scheme to illegally overturn the outcomes of the presidential election. They’ve pleaded not responsible.
Amongst these accused in a Fulton County indictment is Santa Fe legal professional and former legislation professor John Eastman.
In January 2022, then-New Mexico Legal professional Common Hector Balderas, a Democrat, had referred the false certificates to federal authorities for investigation. When Torrez took workplace in 2023, he ordered a state investigation to find out if the electors had dedicated any crimes.
Torrez’s workplace stated investigators reviewed hundreds of pages of paperwork referring to actions in New Mexico and within the different battleground states. Additionally they interviewed the 5 GOP electors.
New Mexico prosecutors contend that Trump’s staff offered directions for finishing and submitting the paperwork. In contrast to the certification paperwork the marketing campaign despatched to different states, these utilized in New Mexico had been hinged on Trump successful his challenges.
Whereas saying it was disgraceful that New Mexicans had been enlisted in a plot to “undermine democracy,” Torrez acknowledged that the conduct by GOP electors in New Mexico was not topic to legal prosecution.
He’s asking Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Democratic-controlled Legislature to amend state election code to offer prosecutors extra latitude to pursue fees in all these instances sooner or later.
Torrez’s suggestions embrace increasing the prohibition in opposition to falsified election paperwork to incorporate certificates associated to presidential electors and creating a brand new legislation in opposition to falsely performing as a presidential elector.