Adrian Fontes on Defending and Protecting the Election Process as We Head Towards the Midterms

About this episode

Adrian Fontes discusses the election process and voter protection as the midterms approach.

Adrian Fontes was elected in 2022 as Arizona's 21st Secretary of State. He’s a Marine Corps veteran who served from 1992 to 1996. After graduating from law school, he worked as a prosecutor with the Denver District Attorney and then at the Maricopa County Attorney’s office. He later led the International Prosecution Unit at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. He practiced law for 15 years before running for office in 2016 when he was elected Maricopa County Recorder, where he revolutionized the election system through enhanced ballot tracking technology and increased process transparency, winning him recognition and awards from election organizations across the country. In 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 crisis and amidst violent protests, Maricopa County saw record voter turnout, as well as record numbers of new voters registered for both parties. He later testified before Congress about threats facing election officials. Adrian and I discuss the lingering 2020 "rigged election" claims; Trump and the Republican Party's current assault on the election process; what he and his state are doing to protect voters in November; and what individual Americans across the country…

People in this episode

Host: Andy Ostroy

Guest: Adrian Fontes

Topics covered

• election process
• midterm elections
• voter protection
• political commentary
• election technology
• transparency in elections

Keywords

• Adrian Fontes
• election process
• midterms
• voter protection
• transparency
• Republican Party
• Congress
• Maricopa County
• ballot tracking
• 2020 election

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Maricopa County, Arizona Attorney General’s Office, Denver District Attorney, Republican Party, Congress

Places: Arizona, Maricopa County

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