Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes visited Parker on Monday, May 22. He held an informal Q&A session with county, Town of Parker and City of Quartzsite officials in the oversight board room. He touched on the issue of Arizona’s election and said he believed America could overcome the current state of extreme partisan division. He also urged all citizens to learn about the electoral process so as not to fall for the many election hoaxes circulating in the state and across the country.

Fontes, a Democrat, will be elected in November 2022. He served as the Maricopa County Recorder. His predecessor was Secretary of State and current Governor Katie Hobbs. He is now traveling across the state and hopes to meet with officials from all 15 counties.

Fontes compared his job to that of an NFL commissioner. He sets the rules, but he enforces them and it is the county’s responsibility to actually conduct the elections. He said each county is different and he understands that what works in one place may not work in another.

Regarding the lingering complaints about the 2020 Maricopa County election, Fontes said every audit and every course case showed the county had the best and most accurate election ever.

The issue Mr Fontes raised was a number of proposed restrictions on mail-in ballots from state legislatures. He said he would oppose these proposals because far more people are now voting than they used to. He said most Arizona voters use mail-in ballots and early voting.

“Reducing access to ballot boxes is not a good idea,” he said.

One of the issues raised by officials in the audience was the alleged slowness of the election results in Arizona. The issue surfaced after the November 2020 and November 2022 elections. Fontes said he understands why people are frustrated. But faster results don’t necessarily translate to better or more accurate results, he said.

“I’d rather do it right than do it fast,” he said. “We want to make sure all valid ballots are counted.”

“You can get quick, cheap, or accurate election results,” he says. “You can have two of them, but you can’t have all three. It can give you quick and accurate results, but it doesn’t come cheap. You get cheap, fast results.” It’s cheap and gives accurate results, but not quickly.”

One of the reasons it’s taken so long to predict the outcome of the election is that the political climate in Arizona has changed. Almost no more “shoe-in”. In other words, predicting election winners is not as easy as it used to be.

“We’re actually getting results faster than last year,” he said.

Fontes explained what he sees as an ideal voting system that does not require registration. He called it a “genuine registration.” This will bring together all key record databases, including citizenship and immigration, and allow election officials to quickly see who is eligible to vote and who is not.

“We’ll get to know all the voters,” he says. “The problem is we don’t have the political will or the money to do it.”

Fontes said some politicians called it “auto-registration” and opposed it because it sounded like a right. Some argue that it will make it easier for illegal immigrants to vote.

“Being able to see who is a citizen and who is not, we will be able to stop illegal immigrants from voting,” he said.

Quartzsite City Councilman Starr Bearcat asked about churches that support political candidates. She said many of them act like political action committees (PACs).

“If you, as a pastor, have to teach your congregation how to vote, you fail as a spiritual leader,” Fontes said. “So you became a politician?”

Fontes said the job of a spiritual leader is to teach what a religion teaches from its scriptures. From there on, it’s up to the faithful to vote with their consciences.

Former La Paz County Recorder Sherry Baker said she wants everyone to learn how the electoral system works and what the process and safeguards are in place. She said she was appalled that former President Donald Trump claimed eight million illegal immigrants voted in the last election.

“We have processes in place to prevent that sort of thing,” she said.

Baker and Fontes said they hoped regional leaders would release accurate information to counter election intrigue, adding that it needed to be done in a civil manner.

Fontes said people need to learn the process, adding that there needs to be a civil conversation.

“There are people who want us to dislike and distrust each other,” he said. “Be polite, listen, and be responsible.”

“None of us can survive beyond the manufacturer’s intentions,” Fontes said.

Mr. Fontes said he had faith in America and believed that our country would emerge from this era of partisanship and squalor. He said we had done it once before, at the McCarthy Red Scare in the early 1950s. Many Americans have had their lives and careers ruined by false claims that they are communists or communist sympathizers. In the end, the American public saw through this and rejected many of the ideas of the time.

Fontes said the same would happen with the current partisanship.

“We don’t buy this, we don’t accept it,” he said. “If I didn’t have faith, I wouldn’t have run for office.”

Fontes said she enjoys traveling all over Arizona, meeting people, listening to their concerns and making connections.

“I am happy to serve you,” he said. “I want to contribute to all of Arizona.”