PHOENIX — Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is defending the state's mail-in voting system as he campaigns for a second term against Republican challenger Alex Kolodin, who sponsored a ballot measure that would require voters to show ID even when voting by mail.
The race comes as Arizona has been a hotbed of election controversies in recent years — from the security of mail-in voting, to the accuracy of voter rolls, to how long it takes to count ballots. All of those issues could influence who voters choose as secretary of state in November.
I sat down with Fontes to discuss his campaign and what he'd do with a second term. I requested a similar sit-down interview with Kolodin. After three emails since September, we still haven't received a response from Kolodin's campaign. Both candidates attended a debate in September.
Fontes, a Democrat, is Arizona's top election official. He said his priority is preserving voting access while enforcing the law against ineligible voting.
"I want it to be convenient and secure," Fontes said.
While Fontes defends Arizona's current vote-by-mail system, Kolodin sponsored Proposition 144. The ballot measure would require voters to show a government ID even when using mail-in ballots. It's unclear how that would be implemented.
"Wouldn't you rather do that sitting at your kitchen table, where you can look things up and read through things? That's how Arizona likes to vote," Fontes said.
Maintenance of voter rolls has also become a campaign issue. This summer, about 150,000 Maricopa County voters received "Have you moved?" letters, often over minor address discrepancies.
County Recorder Justin Heap blamed Fontes' office for sending a delayed release of data. Fontes disagrees.
"He can blame me for whatever he wants, but the record is very clear, and we have receipts," Fontes said.
Fontes says his administration is working to fix data incompatibilities between MVD records and the state's voter registration system. Two years ago, his office found thousands of voters with pre-1996 driver licenses whose citizenship status may not have been verified.
"Since then we've provided the counties with nearly $2 million worth of resources and all the technical assistance we can muster," Fontes said.
Fontes also addressed complaints that it takes days to make election results official. He said new procedures may speed up mail-in vote totals.
"The results don't come in until all of the ballots are counted," Fontes said.
Fontes says Arizona elections don't need an overhaul, but he does want a major upgrade to the statewide voter registration system, with a $25 million price tag. He says he hopes lawmakers will fund that tech project in next year's state budget.
This story was reported on-air by ABC15 Senior Investigator Melissa Blasius and was converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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