Colorado Governor Jared Polis said Wednesday he is weighing whether to grant clemency to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who is serving a nine-year prison sentence for 2020 election-related charges.

Polis told CBS Colorado that Peters received a “harsh” sentence and that officials regularly review long prison terms, especially older inmates, to assess their threat to public safety and whether they should spend their remaining years at home. Peters is in her 70s and is a cancer survivor.

“We always look at people’s sentences, and when you have people that are elderly, and we’re looking at this across a number of people – people in their 70s and their 80s in our system – how much of a threat to society are they? And we balance that in a way that makes sure that they can spend their last few years at home,” Polis said.

President Donald Trump recently criticized Polis over the issue, calling for Peters’ release and condemning the governor for not freeing her. Trump has previously described Peters as a political prisoner multiple times.

In a post on Truth Social on New Year’s Eve, Trump noted that she is “sick” and “now, for two years out of nine, sitting in a Colorado Maximum Security Prison” for “trying to stop the massive voter fraud that goes on in her State.”

Last year, Trump asked Polis to transfer Peters to federal custody so he could pardon her, but Polis refused. Trump then issued a pardon that has no legal effect on her state conviction, and Peters remains in prison for the state charges.

In the post Trump said, “Democrats have been relentless in their targeting of TINA PETERS, a Patriot who simply wanted to make sure that our Elections were Fair and Honest. Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the “crime” of demanding Honest Elections.”

Peters, a former Mesa County clerk, was sentenced in 2024 to nine years for her role in an alleged data breach and related misconduct connected to claims of election fraud. Jurors found her guilty on multiple counts.