A Nevada judge has dismissed the case against six Republicans accused of submitting a false certificate declaring Donald Trump the winner of the state's 2020 presidential election, marking the latest setback in swing state efforts to prosecute fake electors who sought to keep Trump in office after he lost to Joe Biden.
The defendants included Michael McDonald, chair of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, former chair of the Clark County Republican Party. They had pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record. Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford's office said it plans to appeal the ruling.
After the 2020 election, the six Republicans gathered outside the Nevada Legislature to sign a certificate giving the state's six electoral votes to Trump, despite Biden winning Nevada by more than 30,000 votes. The ceremony was broadcast online, and that video footage was used as evidence in the case.
What the Left Is Saying
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is also running for governor as a Democrat, argued that the defendants intended their documents to be mistaken for actual electoral votes that then-Vice President Mike Pence would count on January 6, 2021. His office maintained that the electors knew they were not the legitimate slate certified by Nevada's Democratic secretary of state and submitted their certificate anyway.
Prosecutors have emphasized that similar cases remain pending in other states. A fake elector case is still ongoing in Wisconsin. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes recently dismissed her state's criminal case as a legal maneuver to circumvent deadlines for grand jury proceedings, vowing to bring charges back before a new grand jury.
Critics of the dismissal argue that allowing such challenges to go unpunished could establish a dangerous precedent for future disputed elections, potentially emboldening similar efforts if electoral results are contested.
What the Right Is Saying
Defense attorneys argued that submitting the certificate was an act of political theater designed to publicize concerns about the 2020 election. They maintained their clients were preserving their rights to challenge official results and had no intent to deceive government agencies into accepting the Republican certificate as legitimate.
Nevada Judge Mary Kay Holthus agreed with the defense in her ruling, finding insufficient evidence that the electors intended to deceive officials. She noted that defendants openly announced both their actions and their stated purpose rather than concealing conduct or attempting to induce governmental reliance.
"The fact that Defendants openly announced both their actions and their asserted purpose, rather than concealing their conduct or attempting to secretly induce governmental reliance, weighs against a reasonable inference that they acted with fraudulent intent," Holthus wrote.
Attorneys for McDonald and Law declined to comment following the ruling. The case had faced jurisdiction questions before landing in Clark County, which is home to Las Vegas and leans Democratic.
What the Numbers Show
Courts have dismissed similar fake elector cases in Michigan and Georgia. A special prosecutor dropped a federal case in late 2024 that had charged Trump with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election after Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential contest.
Biden won Nevada by more than 30,000 votes in 2020, a margin representing approximately 2.4% of the total vote cast in the state. The six electoral votes from Nevada would not have changed the outcome of the election, as Biden accumulated 306 electoral votes nationally to Trump's 232.
The dismissed case was one of multiple prosecutions brought by Democratic attorneys general in swing states that Trump lost in 2020 but won in 2024.
The Bottom Line
The dismissal represents a significant legal victory for the Nevada Republicans and adds to a pattern of failed prosecutions against fake electors across multiple states. Ford's office has pledged to appeal, meaning the case could continue through Nevada's court system.
The outcome underscores the difficulty prosecutors have faced in pursuing charges related to the 2020 election efforts, particularly given challenges in establishing fraudulent intent versus political protest. Legal observers will watch whether appeals courts reverse Holthus's ruling or uphold the finding that open and publicized conduct weighs against an inference of deception.
Wisconsin remains as the last state with an active fake elector case. The broader question of accountability for post-2020 election challenges continues to work through federal and state courts.