Adrian Fontes believes he is uniquely qualified to serve as a defender of elections if he is elected as Arizona's next secretary of state.
"This is a very serious moment in the United States of America, and we have to pay attention," Fontes told ABC15 during a recent interview.
Fontes, a Democrat, served for four years as Maricopa County recorder. That one term included administering the contentious 2020 presidential election.
Fontes defended the validity of the vote count in the face of baseless claims about everything from Sharpies spoiling ballots to dead voters.
Multiple audits and investigations turned up no widespread irregularities or fraud.
"I am an experienced election administrator," Fontes said. "I'm an attorney and Marine Corps veteran, and all of that good stuff, and my opponent doesn't believe in the truth."
Republican secretary of state candidate, state Rep. Mark Finchem, is an election denier who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Fontes even set up a webpage claiming Finchem is a danger and would take away people's right to vote.
"In 2018, he put a bill forward in the Legislature that would have taken away the citizens' right to vote for their U.S. senator, giving that choice to the Arizona Legislature," Fontes said. "If he's willing to do it there, he's willing to do it anywhere."
Fontes supports the existing early, mail-in-vote system, and he proposes an expansion of the use of voting centers to more counties. Voters can cast their ballot at any voting center in their county, instead of being required to vote at a particular precinct location.
Fontes said changes he made as recorder ultimately made voting more user-friendly, but there was some backlash and legal battles over his reform proposals. In addition, technical problems led to some polling places opening late on one election day.
"In four years at Maricopa County, we brought in new people, new technology, new processes, and there were going to be some hiccups," Fontes said. "But while they were experiencing them, we stood up to them, we admitted it, and we solved those problems right away for voters."
As secretary of state, Fontes says he would also survey Arizona's 15 counties about their election needs.
"What can we go to the state Legislature and propose that they get for you, whether it's technology or people, infrastructure, security, whatever it happens to be" he said, explaining what questions he'd ask local election officials.
Fontes told ABC15 that Arizona voters can be assured elections will happen with integrity and predictability if he's elected.
