Nevada Judge Dismisses Case Against Six Republicans Accused of Submitting Fake 2020 Election Certificates

A Nevada judge has dismissed the criminal case against six Republicans accused of submitting a false electoral certificate declaring Donald Trump the winner of Nevada in the 2020 presidential election, delivering another setback to efforts to prosecute people involved in the so-called fake electors scheme.

The ruling was issued Thursday by Clark County District Judge Mary Kay Holthus, who found that prosecutors had not presented sufficient evidence that the defendants intended to deceive government officials when they signed and submitted the document.

The six defendants included Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, and Jesse Law, former chairman of the Clark County Republican Party. They had pleaded not guilty to charges including forgery and offering a false instrument for filing or record.

After Joe Biden won Nevada by more than 30,000 votes in the November 2020 election, the six Republicans gathered outside the Nevada Legislature in Carson City and signed a document claiming that Trump had won the state’s six electoral votes.

The document was subsequently sent to federal and state officials.

Prosecutors argued that the defendants intended their certificates to be treated as legitimate electoral votes and potentially counted during the congressional certification of the presidential election on January 6, 2021.

The defendants, however, maintained that the exercise was political rather than an attempt to deceive officials. Their lawyers argued that they were attempting to preserve Trump’s legal options while election challenges were still being pursued.

Judge Holthus sided with the defendants on the critical question of intent.

She found that prosecutors had not demonstrated that the Republicans intended to deceive government officials. The judge also determined that the state had failed to disclose exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

The ruling noted that the defendants had carried out the signing ceremony openly and publicly, which the judge considered inconsistent with an intention to secretly deceive government authorities.

The decision represents the latest legal setback for efforts to hold fake electors accountable in states where Republican activists attempted to submit alternative electoral certificates after Trump’s defeat.

Similar criminal cases have faced dismissals or major setbacks in Arizona, Michigan and Georgia, while a related case remains active in Wisconsin.

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford said his office plans to appeal the decision.

Ford’s office had previously fought to keep the case alive after an earlier dismissal based on questions over the proper venue for prosecution. In November 2025, the Nevada Supreme Court reversed that earlier dismissal and ruled that Clark County was an appropriate venue for the case.

The latest dismissal therefore does not necessarily mark the final chapter in the Nevada case.

The attorney general’s office argues that the defendants’ actions amounted to an attempt to undermine the state’s certified election results. The defense, meanwhile, maintains that the certificates were part of a political effort rather than a fraudulent attempt to have Trump officially declared Nevada’s winner.

The Nevada decision comes as prosecutors across several states have struggled to bring fake-elector cases to trial.

The broader controversy stems from efforts following the 2020 presidential election to create alternative slates of electors for Trump in several states won by Biden. Federal prosecutors previously described the effort as an attempt to use fraudulent electoral certificates to challenge or overturn the legitimate election results.

For the six Nevada defendants, Thursday’s ruling removes the immediate threat of criminal prosecution in the case. But with prosecutors preparing an appeal, the legal battle over whether their actions constituted criminal conduct is likely to continue.