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Ford appeals ‘fake electors’ case to Nevada Supreme Court

Updated July 30, 2024 - 4:08 pm

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office appealed in the Nevada Supreme Court the case that was dismissed against the six Republican electors who submitted fake electoral documents after the 2020 election.

The Republican electors were indicted by a grand jury in December but a Clark County judge dismissed the case over a lack of jurisdiction. Ford filed the appeal last week with the Supreme Court.

The six Nevadans, who had pleaded not guilty, are Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald, Clark County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Law, Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid, Nevada GOP Vice Chairman Jim Hindle III, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice.

After the 2020 election, the six electors gathered outside of the Nevada Legislature building in Carson City to sign the certificate giving the state’s electoral votes to Donald Trump — even though Joe Biden won the Silver State by more than 30,000 votes.

Joining other attorneys general who filed similar charges against Republican electors in their states who tried to give electoral votes to Trump, Ford charged them with offering a false instrument for filing and uttering forged instruments.

The defendants pushed for their case to be dismissed, arguing that the Clark County grand jury lacked jurisdiction because the activities took place in other counties. The defendants met in Carson City to vote and sign the documents, which were later sent from Douglas County, according to the defendants’ lawyers.

District Judge Mary Kay Holthus ruled in favor of the six defendants in late June, agreeing that she lacked jurisdiction to hear the case in Clark County. She officially filed the orders dismissing the case on Friday.

“We remain confident in our case and look forward to bringing these individuals to justice and holding them accountable for their actions,” Ford said in a statement.

The statute of limitations has expired for most of those charges, however the state would be able to pursue a forgery charge, which has a statute of limitations of one extra year.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.

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