Maricopa County Recorder Richer expects to face post-election fraud claims

PHOENIX – The top election official in Arizona’s most populous county is expecting to face post-election scrutiny next month, especially if there are fraud claims.

“Candidates, I would say we all want the same thing right now, which is our voters to feel comfortable voting, so hopefully, everyone can encourage that,” Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Thursday.

Early voting for the Aug. 2 primary began July 6.

“We’ve been [explaining the process] for the past year and a half,” said Richer, a Republican who beat Democratic incumbent Adrian Fontes in November 2020.

Since taking office, Richer has repeatedly defended his staff against disproved fraud claims surrounding the county’s results in the 2020 presidential election, won by Joe Biden.

“We’ve been trying to communicate as much as possible. Again, this is a bipartisan process that has observation from all political parties and has multiple checks at every single level.”

Any voter with questions can contact his office, Richer said.

“This is a process that we believe in, that you can believe in. If you have any questions, please don’t just go to social media or something like that,” he said.

“Please contact our office – we have a whole team full of committed people who love elections and we want you to feel good about elections.”

Richer said election workers are still being recruited.

“These workers are from all political parties working from two days to a few months, from driving box trucks to manning a polling place,” he said.

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