Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters to be re-sentenced; Colorado reacts to Trump’s mail-in voting order; Judge rules against order that de-funded NPR and PBS

Headlines Friday, April 3, 2026

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    Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters to be re-sentenced; Colorado reacts to Trump’s mail-in voting order; Judge rules against order that de-funded NPR and PBS KGNU News

Former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters to be re-sentenced

A Colorado appeals court has re-ordered the sentencing of former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, who is in prison for tampering with county voting equipment and pushing the President’s false claims of election fraud. The court says she was improperly sentenced.

The former Mesa County Clerk was sentenced to more than 8 years in prison for her efforts to search for election fraud in the 2020 election. The Colorado Court of Appeals upheld her sentence but said the trial court punished Peters for her protected speech regarding allegations of election fraud, which affected the length of her sentence, and ordered a re-sentencing.

President Trump has called on the state to release Peters and also pardoned her, but the Colorado court ruled the pardon is unconstitutional because Peters was convicted of a state, not federal crime.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said on Thursday,  “The original sentence that the court imposed on Tina Peters…was fair and appropriate,” and added. “Whatever happens with her sentence, Tina Peters will always be a convicted felon.”

This story was reported by the Colorado Capitol News Alliance

Colorado reacts to Trump’s mail-in voting order

Colorado lawmakers plan to further shore up the state’s election system in response to President Trump’s executive order on mail ballots.

Trump’s order would tighten mail-in voting, requiring a bar code for ballots, and for states to send ballots to a federal list of approved voters. Democratic Senator Katie Wallace says lawmakers plan to make changes to an elections bill to address parts of the Trump executive order.

“Some of what has been talked about is around emergency declarations and the governor’s ability to declare an emergency similar to as we see for natural disasters, but for voting. But it would allow him to create some funding, bring together experts…. it’s nice the federal level has shown us their cards while we’re still in session and while this bill is still moving through the chambers,” said Wallace.

The bill to modify elections would require clerks to send out mail ballots earlier and to open vote centers earlier, to give people more time to vote. The vast majority of Colorado voters from all political parties choose to vote by mail.

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Judge rules against order that de-funded NPR and PBS

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that President Trump violated free speech with an executive order he issued last May to defund NPR and PBS. He claimed the news outlets were biased and directed all federal agencies to stop funding the organizations.

NPR and three Colorado stations, including Aspen Public Radio and KSUT, argued in a lawsuit that the order violated their First Amendment rights. The judge agreed, and now federal agencies are prohibited from following the executive order.

Steve Zansberg is the attorney representing the Colorado stations. He celebrated the news.

“It protects not just the press, but all of us — the freedom of speech, and it is a resounding victory for that,” said Zansberg.

In his ruling, the judge said it was NPR and PBS’s critical coverage of the President that prompted the order, rather than a “yet-to-be-attained platonic ideal of ‘unbiased’ journalism.”

The decision doesn’t change the fact that Congress canceled the lion’s share of federal funding for public media — roughly $1.1 billion over two years.

Tune into Monday’s Morning Magazine for a more in-depth discussion about the ruling with a First Amendment expert.

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You can hear daily headlines on the Morning Magazine, KGNU’s weekday morning show, with coverage of local and regional public affairs and news with headlines and commentary. Click here to listen to full episodes of the Morning Magazine.

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