DENVER — Election conspiracy theorist and Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters will get a recount after all, Colorado officials announced Thursday, now that Peters has raised $256,000 to pay for the review of her loss in the Republican primary for secretary of state.
Peters demanded a recount after losing her race by more than 85,000 votes, baselessly alleging fraud. But she did not pay the $236,000 the Secretary of State’s office initially charged, insisting on a hand recount rather than the machine one they said their rules required. So Peters’ loss was officially certified on Monday.
But then Peters announced she’d raised the funds and reiterated her request. On Thursday, the Secretary of State’s office announced it would perform a machine recount by Aug. 4 after Peters placed the $256,000 fee in an escrow account.
Peters said in a statement that she had raised the money from individual donors who complied with the state’s $1,250 political contribution limit. State Rep. Ron Hanks, who had requested a recount along with Peters after losing his U.S. Senate primary, did not submit any funds and will not receive a recount in his race.
Peters was indicted on several felony charges for her role in breaking into her county’s election system in search of proof of the conspiracy theories spun by former President Donald Trump after his 2020 election loss. She was defeated in the GOP primary by Pam Anderson, a former Jefferson County clerk who has criticized Trump’s election lies.