A trial has been set for January 5, 2026 for some of the “fake electors” accused of trying to subvert the 2020 election results in Arizona.
Let’s dig into this, but first, what is a fake elector?
Electors are people who represent a political party or candidate in the electoral college. Each party chooses a slate of electors, and only the electors for the party that wins are allowed to participate in the electoral college. The other electors stay home.
Being chosen as an elector is an honor, almost like winning an award. It’s like saying, “Thanks for being a great member of the Republican Party here in the state of Idaho, or, “Good work supporting the Democrats in Colorado, you get to be an elector.”
So what is a fake elector? It’s someone who is NOT participating in the electoral college because the political party they represent did not win. But instead of staying home like electors from the losing party are supposed to, they decide to show up and try to vote anyway, participating in a faux, alternate ceremony.
In this case, they then signed fake electoral certificates and sent them in to Congress and the National Archives asking that they be counted as though they were real.
The current fake elector scheme that took place across multiple swing states was cooked up by lawyers, like Ken Chesebro and John Eastman. Many of the people involved in the plot are now facing criminal charges because of their actions.
That’s where the 1960 election comes in.
The people behind the fake elector scheme in 2020 pointed to an incident that took place during the 1960 presidential race between John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon.
That year, it was clear that Kennedy had won the presidency, but there was still a dispute over about 100 ballots in Hawaii. The initial results showed that Nixon had won the state by just over 140 votes. Hawaii’s lieutenant governor certified these results, saying Nixon had won.
But because the count was so close, Kennedy’s team filed a lawsuit asking for a recount. Hawaii was a brand new state and had never participated in the electoral college before, and they were still building their processes for participating in presidential elections.
It didn’t seem like the recount was going to be finished by the time the Electoral College was meant to meet on Dec. 19. That day, because the results had been certified, Nixon’s electors sent a certificate to Congress casting their three electoral votes for Nixon. But at the same time, Kennedy’s electors sent their own certificate to Congress, because they believed Kennedy would be the winner when the recount was over.
The recount ended before the end of December 1960, and showed that Kennedy had in fact won the state by 115 votes. After the recount, the governor sent a notification to Congress that they should count the new certificates.
On Jan. 6, 1960, Nixon (who as vice president oversaw the congressional certification of the results) was presented with all three certificates: His own, Kennedy’s uncertified one, and the post-recount certificate that was certified. He agreed that the certified Kennedy certificate should be the one counted.
He said that it “properly and legally portrays the facts with respect to the electors chosen by the people of Hawaii.”
So how is this different from 2020?
In 1960, the outcome of Hawaii was legitimately in doubt because the count was so close. It was reasonable that electors on both sides were prepared to support their candidate, since it was unclear who the winner would be. The two different certificates were sent to Congress as a stand-in until the recount was finished.
But in 2020 there was no ongoing recount, and the claims of fraud or a stolen election were proven false. The fake electors were hoping that their certificates would cause confusion in Congress, delay the certification of the electoral college, and buy them more time to mount legal challenges.
The charges against the fake electors vary by state. Some electors say they were duped into being a part of the scheme. Others are seen as key drivers of the plan. Some are charged with forgery, making false statements or attempting to file false documents, impersonating public officers, and more.
According to an indictment released this year by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, eleven people who wanted to overturn election results met on Dec. 14 and claimed that they had been chosen to represent the state in the Electoral College. One of those people, Loraine Pellegrino, became the first fake elector to plead guilty when she reached a plea deal with prosecutors earlier this month. She will cooperate with the case in return for pleading guilty to the false document charge and having all the other charges against her dropped.
Another major conspirator in the fake electors plan, Jenna Ellis, originally pleaded not guilty to fraud, forgery and conspiracy charges. As Trump’s former attorney, she is accused of working with people in and out of Arizona to try to subvert their election results. She is also accused of traveling with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani to spread incorrect information about claims of election fraud, and was at a meeting where Giuliani tried to convince then-Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers to overturn Trump’s loss in the state.
On August 6, 2024, Ellis agreed to cooperate and give evidence in exchange for prosecutors dropping nine felony charges against her. She will be required to provide documents and other material evidence tied to the elector strategy. She must “completely and truthfully” testify in any future trials.
Giuliani has also been charged with nine felonies in Arizona. He’s pleaded not guilty, and will be part of the trial in 2026. Former presidential chief of staff Mark Meadows was also indicted in Arizona and is currently trying to move his charges to a federal court, where he will ask that they be dismissed.
Giuliani and Meadows also face charges in Georgia, and three of the state’s fake electors were charged in May 2023. Eight others were offered immunity in exchange for their cooperation. They are charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), as well as impersonating a public officer, first-degree forgery, false statements and writings, criminal attempt to commit filing false documents and other offenses. Violating RICO alone could lead to a sentence of 5-20 years.
In July 2023, Michigan charged 15 fake electors with eight counts each, including conspiracy to commit forgery, conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, election forgery, and more. Each offense is a felony and the maximum penalty for each ranges between five and 14 years. A trial has not yet been set.
In Nevada, six fake electors were charged in December 2023 with two felonies: “offering a false instrument for filing” and “uttering a forged instrument.” The case was dismissed this year because the judge said the case was improperly brought to a court in Las Vegas, instead of Carson City or Reno, where the false documents were signed. Nevada’s attorney general said he would appeal.
Though a court date has been set for Arizona, the investigation into election subversion is ongoing. There is potential that even more people could be charged in the future.
Why does this matter?
Fair and free elections have always and will always matter, and with the 2024 election looming on the horizon, learning from the past is of particular importance now. False claims of election fraud and violating the law in service of trying to throw out the fair and free votes of citizens are ideas we should not be willing to entertain. Sometimes your candidate wins. Sometimes they lose. And accepting the results, even if we aren’t personally pleased with them, is the American way.
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