The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that forgery charges filed in Clark County can move forward against Nevada’s six so-called “fake electors” who sought to overturn the 2020 election for President Donald Trump.

In a 6-0 ruling Thursday, the state’s highest court overturned a lower court’s ruling that Clark County was an inappropriate jurisdiction to hear the case. Justice Kristina Pickering recused herself from the case because she is neighbors with one of the defendants.

On behalf of the court, Justice Lidia Stiglich wrote that Clark County was an appropriate venue to hear the case because the GOP electors — after signing documents that purported to pledge Nevada’s six electoral votes for Trump — mailed them to a courthouse in Las Vegas. This mail was eventually rerouted to a judge’s office in Reno.

“On the facts, respondents concede that the package containing the false certificates was mailed to and delivered at the federal court in Clark County,” the opinion stated. “This provided a sufficient basis from which to find that respondents intended the certificates to effect their fraudulent aims in Clark County.”

The decision means criminal proceedings will continue in Clark County, where a jury would likely have more Democrats than in some other jurisdictions. The state has also pursued forgery charges in Carson City, but that case will likely be withdrawn because people cannot face duplicate charges for the same offense.

The decision marks a victory for Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford — a Democrat running for governor next year — who said in a statement that “the Nevada Supreme Court affirmed what we have maintained all along — that Clark County is the proper and lawful venue to prosecute our case.”

“The 2020 fake electors cannot evade accountability in Nevada for their unlawful actions,” he continued. “With this ruling, we will return to the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County and continue our work to ensure that justice is served.”

Lawyers for the fake electors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Some of the most prominent Nevada Republicans are among the defendants, including Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, Nevada GOP Vice Chair Jim Hindle and Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid. The other three defendants are then-Clark County GOP Chairman Jesse Law, Shawn Meehan and Eileen Rice. 

Trump pardoned the six electors earlier this week, but that would only apply if they ever faced federal charges. It had no effect on the ongoing cases, which deal with state charges.

In late 2023, a Clark County grand jury indicted the six Republicans on two felony charges  — offering a false instrument for filing and uttering a forged instrument — after they pledged the state’s electoral votes for Trump, despite then-candidate Joe Biden winning Nevada by nearly 33,000 votes.

But last year, Clark County Judge Mary Kay Holthus dismissed the case, ruling the valid venue was in Carson City, where the fake electors held a ceremony proclaiming the electoral votes to Trump or Douglas County, where the fake elector documents were originally mailed from. She determined the crime had been completed after the documents were mailed.

State prosecutors filed the initial charges in Clark County because two of the defendants live in Clark County, mail related to the election scheme passed through the county and fraudulent electoral documents were mailed to a federal judge in Las Vegas.

“Respondents do not dispute that the certificates were delivered to a recipient in Clark County,” the Supreme Court’s ruling said. “The district court erred in concluding that the alleged crimes were complete upon mailing from Douglas County.”

The resumption of the Clark County case means the defendants, if convicted, could face more punishment than they would under the charge filed in Carson City. The two charges they are facing in Clark County carry punishments up to a maximum of four and five years in prison, with a minimum of one year imprisonment for each charge.

In December, the attorney general’s office pressed only one charge in Carson City — uttering a forged instrument — because the other charge’s statute of limitations had expired. 

A Carson City judge last month ruled the case can proceed, and a trial was set for next year.

Updated on 11/13/15 at 3:15 p.m. to include a statement from Ford.