A Las Vegas state judge dismissed the criminal case against six Nevada Republicans accused of submitting a bogus certificate that falsely declared Donald Trump the winner of the state’s 2020 presidential election. The dismissal came after prosecutors failed to prove the allegations during the yearslong legal battle.
The decision represents the latest setback for prosecutors across swing states attempting to penalize alternative electors who sought to keep Donald Trump in the White House following his defeat to Joe Biden. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford brought forward felony charges including forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record against the six defendants, all of whom pleaded not guilty.
Among the defendants facing the dropped charges are Michael McDonald, chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, former chair of the Clark County Republican Party. Defense attorneys argued successfully that the defendants never intended to deceive government agencies, characterizing the gathering as an act of political theater designed to preserve legal challenges.
Legal Arguments and the Question of Intent
The core of the courtroom battle centered on the motivations of the Republican electors who assembled outside the Nevada Legislature after the November 2020 vote. While Joe Biden won the state by more than 30,000 votes, the six GOP officials signed an alternate certificate naming Donald Trump the victor and broadcast the ceremony online, according to courtroom evidence cited by the Associated Press.
Prosecutors argued that the defendants intended for the document to be treated as a legitimate slate of electoral votes that then-Vice President Mike Pence would count during congressional certification on January 6, 2021. Defense counsel countered that the participants were simply preserving their right to contest the election results and never tried to slip the document past officials as a genuine state filing.
The judge ultimately agreed that the state failed to meet its burden of proof regarding the statutory requirements for the charges, bringing the Nevada proceeding to a close. The case had previously faced jurisdictional disputes before landing in Clark County, a heavily Democratic region encompassing Las Vegas.
Broader Nationwide Challenges for Fake Elector Cases
The dismissal in Nevada mirrors similar hurdles encountered by prosecutors in other crucial presidential battlegrounds. Legal efforts targeting alternative slate filings have faced severe roadblocks across multiple jurisdictions.
In Arizona, Attorney General Kris Mayes recently dismissed her office’s criminal case while vowing to bring the matter back to a grand jury to secure a fresh indictment, a procedural maneuver executed after losing a court appeal in June, as reported by the Associated Press. Similar prosecutions have also been dismissed or dropped in states such as Michigan and Georgia. Meanwhile, a federal conspiracy case against Donald Trump was dropped by a special prosecutor in late 2024 following his victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, leaving an active fake electors prosecution still pending in Wisconsin.