Here’s what Arizona Secretary of State Fontes says to expect in the 2024 election

PHOENIX — With election season well underway, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes spoke Thursday about what to expect during in 2024, including the presidential race.

Fontes explained to KTAR 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News that his and his team’s experience is the reason for why things are being done as effective as possible leading up to next November.

He previously served as the Maricopa County recorder from 2017-2021 and briefly as interim chief deputy recorder in Pima County in 2021. He also has highly qualified election officials on his crew.

“I’ve got our election director, [he] was not just a lawyer in Maricopa, but also in Pinal and in Yavapai. We’ve got the former election director from Cochise County as the deputy state election director, so we’ve got a team that’s more experienced than any team that’s ever been assembled,” he said.

What will be different next year in Arizona elections?

Technology security, as well as physical infrastructure and security, was procedurally being cleaned up.

Training is also being enhanced so that elections officers will be certified through the secretary of state’s office, Fontes said.

“We’re going to be asking the Legislature to allow me to certify officers in even-numbered years, as well, during this Legislative session because we’ve got a lot of new officers in Arizona. We want to get them certified before November,” he said.

According to ARS 16-407, in each general election, the secretary of state oversees the creation and submission of an election officer education, training and certification plan, which outlines achievements and problems over the previous 2-year period, as well as expectations moving forward.

He said the election procedures manual was also enhanced to where items not involving elections were removed, such as topics on candidates or campaigning.

There will be a new election warehouse in Coconino County, while Pinal County is aiming to open its new election warehouse in midsummer, just before the August primaries.

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