PHOENIX — The Arizona primary election is set to happen on Tuesday, July 30. This will be an important test ahead of the November General Election.
There are lingering skeptics who still question the validity of previous elections in 2020, as well as 2022. Some candidates running for office are among them.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: El Secretario Estatal de Arizona confiado de que los condados están listos para la elección primaria
12News’ Allison Rodriguez sat down with Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes ahead of the primary to talk about election safety and election worker safety.
Sec. Fontes said he believes it’s up to every person to make sure elections are secure.
“The biggest and most important thing that voters can do, is learn now about the subject matter that you're interested in," he said. "Learn about the candidates learn about the issues now."
The Democrat is urging Arizona voters to be vigilant this election cycle and get ahead of mis-and disinformation…"so that if something like that pops up at the last minutes, if it evokes some emotion you can say 'wait a minute, that might not be right.'"
His biggest tip for voters this year is to take advantage of the state early voting system.
"Vote early. If you turn that ballot in early, you're less likely to be caught up right towards the end on election day, in whatever drama might pop up because of these tools," he said.
He's talking about tools like deepfakes, and artificial intelligence. In May, we saw Fontes play an AI-generated video of himself, demonstrating how convincing they can be. But despite, bad actors out there, he said Arizona elections are secure, particularly early voting.
"We've had safeguards in Arizona in our early voting system for a very long time." Sec. Fontes previously was the Maricopa County recorder, so he knows a good partnership with the current recorders is important.
"I get along real well with all 15 of the county recorders. We speak pretty regularly in statewide meetings," Fontes added.
In Arizona, much of the responsibility of elections falls to each county and they don't all do things the same way.
"Remember Arizona's counties pick the elections systems they use. We certify those," Fontes reminded.
Races in Arizona have become increasingly tight with razor-thin margins separating the winners. Fontes was asked what steps his office is ready and willing to take if issues pop up on Election Day.
"If I see or hear of something that might impact a person's vote here in Arizona, then we will do everything we can to protect that voter’s vote but frankly-I don't think we're going to have any of those conflicts this year," he stated.
He feels confident elections will go off without a hitch. But only time will tell. Voters can visit https://my.arizona.vote/ for full election information including poll times and locations.
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