Not illegal, but misleading.

That’s how the office of Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on Thursday characterized actions by state Republicans who planned to nominate their own electors following the 2020 presidential election in which their candidate lost.

As Shapiro’s office pointed out, Pennsylvania Republicans made no secret during the 2020 election certification process that they planned to nominate their own slate of electors and submit their own ballots to perpetuate “the Big Lie” that Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in the Keystone State.

Shapiro’s office said the Republicans’ “fake ballots” for electors included a conditional clause that they were only to be used if a court overturned the results in Pennsylvania — which did not happen.

“Though their rhetoric and policy were intentionally misleading and purposefully damaging to our democracy, based on our initial review, our office does not believe this meets the legal standards for forgery,” Shapiro’s office stated.

A Barletta campaign spokesman addressed the issue in a statement from their office.

“The language of the Pennsylvania document clearly states that this was done in case it was later determined that different electors were needed. It was sent to the governor, sent to the National Archives, and the Pennsylvania Republican Party tweeted about it, so it was something that was placed clearly on the public record,” the statement indicates.

“At the time there were still outstanding issues and pending litigation with respect to the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. To this day, millions of people have legitimate questions about that election,” the statement adds.