Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes talks election security, ‘mind hacking’ of voters

PHOENIX — With Election Day a mere week away, Maricopa County officials are upgrading their security measures across polling areas.

Drones will fly over the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center security cameras will monitor the areas and snipers will sit on the roof, according to NBC News.

A slew of political threats targeting election officials preceded these upgraded election security measures.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told CBS’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” the 2024 election is wildly different from 2020.

“It’s absolutely, completely different from 2020,” Fontes said during an interview aired Sunday. “I remember in 2018 our greatest security threat was a rattlesnake in the parking lot at the Pinnacle Peak precinct.”

Hissing snakes are small dangers compared to the violent death threats state officials such as Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer have faced since the last election cycle.

“This is a radically different set of circumstances that we are dealing with,” Fontes said. “But we are prepared and we’re going to have a secure election.”

Why is election security a top priority in Arizona?

Safety threats are one of several concerns election officials are facing this political cycle.

In fact, “mind hacking” is another pervasive issue Fontes and other secretaries of state are concerned about. It refers to the way bad actors inject false perceptions into the minds of voters.

One common piece of misinformation is the belief that undocumented citizens are changing the tide in U.S. elections, Fontes said.

“If, and when, something like that happens, it is absolutely vanishingly rare,” Fontes said. “We still have candidates, elected officials and folks with large megaphones lying.”

He described people who amplify this falsehood as “useful idiots.”

Furthermore, many popular falsehoods come from foreign enemies that want to sow distrust in American democracy, he added.

“It’s bad for our democracy. It’s bad for business. It’s bad for the law and education and science and everything else,” Fontes said. “Look to the folks who are actually doing the work, ask them what’s actually happening and go with the truth instead of amplifying lies from foreign adversaries.”

How long will it take for election results to come in?

Although Election Day will take place on Nov. 5, it will take a while before authorities can officially call the presidential election.

“It’s going to take us as long as it has always taken us,” Fontes said.

Officials won’t speed up the process for the sake of news cycles or political satisfaction, he added.

“We will have official results in about 10 to 13 days, but everybody knows that the networks and the newspapers will make their prognostications whenever they see fit based on their math,” Fontes said.

That’s just the way it works, he added.

“We’re perfectly confident that we’re going to have what we need when we need it, which is when it happens and it will be accurate,” Fontes said.

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