The cases against fake electors and where they stand - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

As part of Donald Trump and his allies’ nationwide effort to undermine the 2020 presidential election, 84 total fake electors across seven states signed false electoral certificates claiming that Trump won the election in their states. As of July 2024, fake electors from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Nevada have been charged with crimes, and the remaining fake electors in New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin do not currently face charges.

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In Arizona, the final three fake electors involved in efforts to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election were arraigned on June 18, 2024. Atrial date has been set for January 5, 2026. In total, 11 fake electors and seven Trump aides including former Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows are facing charges for their involvement in Arizona. On August 7, Lorraine Pellegrino, one of the 11 fake electors, pleaded guilty to the charge of filing a false instrument.

At least three of the 16 fake electors in Georgia have been indicted and face prosecution, while eight have agreed to immunity deals. Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, who was a state senator at the time he allegedly falsified electoral certificates, is facing a special investigation by a state prosecutor. 

A Michigan trial court is receiving ongoing witness testimony including from James Renner, a fake elector who entered a deal with the government. The remaining 15 fake electors may or may not be charged—notably, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the fake electors knew they were breaking the law when they signed the fraudulent certificates, and Renner has testified that he and the other defendants were unaware that what they were doing was illegal.

The case against Nevada’s six fake electors was dismissed on June 21, 2024 with the judge explaining that the cases needed to refiled in Douglas County, Nevada where the false electoral certificates were originally signed. The judge who dismissed the case without prejudice called the scheme “a crime that has occurred in another jurisdiction.”

In three other states, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, charges against the fake electors have not been filed. In both New Mexico and Pennsylvania the fake electors added a clause to their false electoral certificates saying that their votes should be counted only if a court found them to be valid electors. In Pennsylvania, that conditional clause makes it unlikely the fake electors will be criminally prosecuted, while the attorney general in New Mexico has explained that its state’s laws criminalizing forgery do not cover signing false electoral certificates. In Wisconsin, the individuals who delivered the fake electoral certificates to Congress have been indicted, but charges have not been filed against the fake electors themselves. Because the fake electors themselves have yet to face criminal accountability, Wisconsin is therefore noted not to have filed charges against its fake electors in this tracker.

The dozens of indictments across the four states that have brought charges so far reflect the gravity of the fake electors’ actions and the importance of accountability for those who participated. In order to best protect against another fake electors scheme in the future, all those who violated state and federal laws to undermine the 2020 election should be held legally accountable.

The table below reflects the current status of each state in regards to indicting its fake electors, including whether charges have been filed, the status of the cases, the number of fake electors and whether the fake electors had contact or were coordinating with the Trump campaign.

Additional resources:

Arizona:
Georgia
Michigan
Nevada
New Mexico
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin

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