Some supporters of President-elect Donald Trump will cast their electoral college votes in their states on Tuesday as they continue to deal with felony charges related to the last presidential campaign.

Eight of this year’s Republican presidential electors in Michigan and Nevada have been indicted for their participation in the so-called “fake electors” scheme to overturn Trump’s loss in 2020.

Four years ago, they sent fake certificates to state and federal officials claiming that Trump had won the electoral votes in their states. This year, as authorized voters, they will once again be expected to sign legitimate certificates formalizing Trump’s recent victories in their states.

As states take the next step in transferring presidential power, some legal and election experts see the return of these eight prosecuted voters as a reminder of how much leeway state political parties have in selecting potential voters, and how much Trump Republicans now dominate parties across the country.

Where do the “fake voter” cases stand in Michigan and Nevada?

While Trump’s re-election has derailed the election subversion cases against the president-elect, federal prosecutions of his allies in the 2020 conspiracy are moving forward, without the possibility of a presidential pardon, which only applies to federal crimes.

In Michigan, the cases against six returning electors — Amy Facchinello, Hank Choate, John Haggard, Marian Sheridan, Meshawn Maddock and Timothy King, all of whom have pleaded not guilty — are still ongoing in state courts, after the Democratic Michigan attorney general said announced fees in July 2023.

And in Nevada, prosecutors filed new fraud charges this month against two returning pro-Trump voters — Jesse Law and Michael McDonald, the chairman of the Nevada Republican Party. A state judge in June dismissed an earlier indictment against Law, McDonald and others because, the judge said, prosecutors chose the wrong venue for the charges.

This ruling is currently being appealed to the Nevada Supreme Court. In the event it is not overturned, Nevada’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford says his office filed the new charges elsewhere before the statute of limitations expired.

“Justice requires that we prosecute wrongdoing,” says Ford. “If our case goes to trial, we intend to hold them accountable for their actions that occurred years ago. It has nothing to do with their responsibility and ability to participate in the electoral process that they did not violate the law in doing so.”

McDonald’s attorney Richard Wright said in an email that “the refiling of the dismissed charges looks like a political move by the attorney general” who announced the new charges and his plans to run for governor on the same day , announced. Ford says the timing was a coincidence that arose from a reporter’s inquiry about his political future and the time the court needed to process the file.

Federal prosecutions of pro-Trump 2020 voters also continue in Arizona and Georgia. There are also returning Republican voters authorized to cast this year’s electoral votes in Pennsylvania, where prosecutors have not filed charges after these pro-Trump voters in 2020 signed certificates with caveats saying the documents were only used would if a court overturned their state’s election results.

Why criminally charged “fake voters” can act as eligible voters

Presidential voters are typically leaders of state or local political parties or other long-time supporters of the party.

“Many states are pretty lax about qualifications and who can serve and how they conduct themselves,” said Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette University.

In Wisconsin, where unauthorized Republican voters also signed a false certificate in 2020, those voters are now barred by a settlement agreement from voting again in a US presidential election in which Trump is on the ballot.

But there are no comparable legal hurdles for voters facing criminal charges in Michigan or Nevada.

“Even if they had been convicted, that would not prevent them from serving as electors, at least under Michigan law,” said Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and a former U.S. attorney during the Obama administration. “I think probably the biggest concern is that people might have doubts about the integrity of voters who have been accused of abuses of power in the past.”

If there are any concerns, that hasn’t stopped the Michigan or Nevada GOP from selecting those returning voters to sign their states’ official Electoral College certification this year, McQuade adds.

“If you include someone who has previously been accused of forging this document or falsely notarizing such a document, I think that’s an interesting statement on the allegations,” McQuade says. “I think it means they think the allegations are trivial or unimportant or some sort of badge of honor.”

Both the Republican parties in Michigan and Nevada did not respond to NPR’s requests for comment. After the Nevada judge dismissed the earlier charges, the Nevada Republican Party said in a news release that it was “satisfied” and that the judge “made the right decision.”

This year’s return of criminally charged voters, Azari adds, “shows how the Trump movement has been incredibly successful in dominating state and local parties and also dominating the narrative surrounding the 2020 election.”

Still, McQuade rejects the argument that Trump’s re-election in 2024 “washes away all sins, so to speak” and that “anyone who did anything to get him elected in 2020 received that blessing from the voters.”

“All of these people are undoubtedly entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process and fair trial,” McQuade said. “But I think it’s important that (the attorneys general) see through these prosecutions so that people understand that this was a big deal and not something that we just shrug our shoulders about and move on.”

Edited by Benjamin Swasey