The Supreme Court of Nevada has reversed a lower court ruling and allowed criminal charges to proceed against six alternate electors for President Donald Trump during the 2020 presidential election.
The court ruled 6–0 on Nov. 13 that the case could proceed in Democratic-leaning Clark County, which encompasses the city of Las Vegas.
Earlier, a lower court had dismissed the case and ruled that it had to be heard in Carson City, Nevada, where the electors had held a ceremony to “certify” Trump’s victory in the state after he lost to President Joe Biden there.
“Respondents do not dispute that the certificates were delivered to a recipient in Clark County,” read the Supreme Court’s ruling. “The district court erred in concluding that the alleged crimes were complete upon mailing from Douglas County.”
The defendants are prominent members of the Nevada Republican Party, including Chairman Michael McDonald, Vice Chairman Jim Hindle, and the Republican National Committeeman from Nevada, Jim DeGraffenreid.
The other three defendants are former Clark County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Law, Shawn Meehan, and Eileen Rice.
The Nevada Republican Party did not immediately return a request for comment. Individuals included in the indictment or their attorneys could not be immediately reached.
The defendants in the case were indicted by a state grand jury in 2023 on two sets of charges—offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument—for their alternate election of Trump and creation of a certificate of electoral votes for president, to be presented to Congress as it certified Biden’s victory on Jan. 6, 2021.
The charges are felonies, and if convicted, the defendants could spend more than a year in prison.
Trump recently pardoned the defendants, but that reprieve only applies to federal criminal charges, which so far have not been filed.
The president’s most recent pardons, announced on Nov. 9, covered several of his allies who were involved in challenging the 2020 election results, such as former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Trump aide Jeffrey Clark, and others.
“This proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 Presidential Election and continues the process of national reconciliation,” states the pardon document shared on social media by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin.
To receive pardons under state law, the defendants would have to apply to the Nevada Board of Pardons, which hears applications from criminal defendants after they have been convicted.
The case at the state’s Supreme Court had been spearheaded by Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, who is running for governor next year against incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
“The 2020 [alternate] electors cannot evade accountability in Nevada for their unlawful actions,” Ford wrote about the court’s ruling in a statement to the press. “With this ruling, we will return to the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County and continue our work to ensure that justice is served.”
Joseph Lord contributed to this report.
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