“Tell her to come out of hiding”: Mesa County clerk hasn’t been home; officials vote to replace election equipment

The Mesa County Commission volition regenerate 41 pieces of predetermination instrumentality that were compromised during an alleged information breach — the latest successful a saga that includes a pillow salesman, County Clerk Tina Peters successful hiding and QAnon.

The all-Republican committee voted 3-0 to regenerate its Dominion Voting Systems hardware during a peculiar gathering Tuesday day and extended the county’s contract with Dominion done 2029 astatine a outgo of $825,281.

Thirty-four Mesa County residents spoke to the committee earlier the ballot and each opposed the Dominion contract, quoting from the Declaration of Independence and Scripture arsenic they urged the committee to take a antithetic instrumentality institution oregon usage manus counts alternatively of Dominion.

“I find it downright appalling that you are adjacent considering Dominion and their minions,” Diana Larson of Grand Junction said.

“Don’t bash this,” Shelley Lucas of Grand Junction said. “Please don’t bash this. I commune to God that helium gives you the spot to bash the close thing.”

The alleged information breach has turned Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, a Republican, into a leader among far-right followers of erstwhile President Donald Trump who judge Dominion machines changed ballot tallies successful the 2020 predetermination and robbed Trump of the presidency. Public speakers during the gathering repeated those conspiracy theories, with immoderate adjacent threatening to ballot retired immoderate commissioners who approved the declaration extension.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, connected the different hand, considers Peters to beryllium a rogue clerk who jeopardized the security of predetermination equipment and forced Tuesday’s vote.

Peters has been traveling extracurricular Mesa County since Aug. 10, erstwhile she flew to a conspiracy mentation symposium successful South Dakota hosted by Mike Lindell, the CEO of MyPillow and an predetermination conspiracist. He past arranged for her to enactment successful Texas but she moved past week aft Lindell’s information squad leaked details of her whereabouts, he told Vice News.

On Monday, she was interviewed for Lindell’s online show.

“When they decertified my machines — my Dominion machines — I went, ‘Oh, good. That’s great. We volition conscionable hand-count the votes (in November).’ Well, they decided to bring successful much Dominion machines,” Peters said.

It’s not wide wherever Peters is now, but she whitethorn not beryllium determination for long. The clerk told Lindell connected Monday that she believes her edifice country was burglarized and Lindell said, “I conjecture we’re going to person to get you moved again.” He vowed to put for backstage information arsenic well.

It’s besides not wide who’s paying for the arrangements; Colorado elected officials cannot person gifts worthy much than $65.

During the hourlong interrogation connected LindellTV.com, Peters said she has doubts that elections successful Mesa County, which she has overseen since 2018, were accurately tallied due to the fact that Republicans won by humble margins successful immoderate elections: “Even though we’re a blimpish region and we won successful definite instances, it wasn’t by arsenic overmuch arsenic we should have.”

The actions of Peters and her bureau are nether investigation by the FBI, Mesa County district attorney’s office and Colorado caput of state’s office. The second believes Peters allowed an unauthorized antheral named Gerald Wood to entree a unafraid country astatine the region predetermination bureau connected May 25 and that the breach led to predetermination instrumentality passwords being posted online Aug. 2 by Ron Watkins, a starring fig successful the QAnon conspiracy theory. Peters denied that Monday.

“I did not station and I did not authorize anyone to station immoderate predetermination information oregon bundle oregon passwords online,” she told Liddell. Peters acknowledged that surveillance cameras were turned disconnected earlier the breach but said authorities instrumentality does not necessitate them to beryllium connected until 60 days earlier an election.

Peters besides admitted taking a photograph of predetermination instrumentality hard drives. The caput of state’s bureau alleged past week it occurred connected a Sunday evening, May 25, aft the clerk’s bureau was closed. Images from the county’s hard drives were aboriginal displayed astatine Liddell’s conspiracy mentation event.

“I’m wondering what they’re hiding. These are the people’s records. These are the radical of Mesa County, they merit to cognize what’s successful those machines,” Peters said Monday. “I conscionable wonderment what they’re hiding, for them to stroke up astatine (me) conscionable taking a photograph of their system.”

Griswold has determined that Peters cannot beryllium trusted to supervise autumn elections successful Mesa County, erstwhile residents volition ballot connected ballot measures and section elected offices.

Griswold appointed Peters’ Republican predecessor, Mesa County Treasurer Sheila Reiner, to oversee the county’s elections connected a impermanent basis; she cannot regenerate Peters for bully herself.

Meanwhile, the region commission, which believes it has the sole authorization to name a supervisor, has chosen erstwhile Secretary of State Wayne Williams.

Commissioners said Tuesday that Reiner and Williams are moving unneurotic well. Peters alleged Monday that Reiner “has a past of liberalism and absorption to” her but did not measurement successful connected Williams, who is besides a Republican.

The clerk said she doesn’t “know that overmuch astir computers” but believes Dominion machines tin beryllium hacked online (Colorado-based Dominion denies this) and that she is being punished for trying to marque Mesa County elections much transparent.

“The mode I consciousness close present is that the robber has travel into my location and he’s inactive there,” she said.

Mesa County Commissioner Scott McInnis, a Republican, asked members of the nationalist who cognize Peters to impulse her to instrumentality to work.

“Call Tina, archer her to travel retired of hiding,” helium said Tuesday. “Tell her to travel home.”