PHOENIX — Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is making Arizona’s mail voting system the centerpiece of his reelection pitch as he faces Republican state Rep. Alexander Kolodin on Nov. 3, ABC15 reported after interviewing Fontes.
Kolodin sponsored Proposition 144, which would require voters to show a government-issued ID even when voting by mail; it is not clear how that would be carried out. Fontes argues the current system works. “Wouldn’t you rather do that sitting at your kitchen table, where you can look things up and read through things? That’s how Arizona likes to vote,” he said.
Fontes said his priorities are protecting access to the ballot while enforcing laws against ineligible voting. Voter-roll maintenance has also become an issue after about 150,000 Maricopa County voters received “Have you moved?” letters this summer, often over minor address differences. County Recorder Justin Heap blamed late data from Fontes’ office; Fontes disputes that, saying “we have receipts.”
ABC15 said it requested a similar interview with Kolodin but had not received a response. The two met in a debate in September.
Sources: ABC15. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: David Jiang / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
