Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Election Procedures Manual

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D) has been receiving criticism following the release of his draft election procedures manual. Last Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Secretary Fontes cannot enforce his ban on insulting or offensive speech at our near polling places.

The courts ultimately decided that the provisions Fontes added in his manual are too broad and could potentially criminalize unintentional conduct. The new draft, which dictates how Arizona’s elections must run, has also received backlash and has reopened partisan debates. Issues include how officials count ballots, conduct early voting, and handle voter citizenship checks.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the polarizing issue.

“This manual is really a rulebook for election administrators, it’s for county officials,” Fontes said, “…for folks who are actually at the polling places, how to run the election, not intended for the general public, although it’s available to the public obviously.”

Fontes explained how this ruling dealt with two crucial pieces. One piece was kicked out as the ninth circuit said the plaintiffs didn’t have standing regarding a rule that was promulgated back in 2023. This was dealing with certification of elections.

“The second piece, we’re gonna get to go to trial on,” Fontes explained, “…because the plaintiffs did have standing on that one, and that had to with threats and intimidation against voters who are potentially standing in line or heading to polling places which is one of the things we wanted to prevent.”

Fontes emphasized how a lot of these lawsuits are being brought upon by his political opponents.

“These aren’t folks advocating for voters,” Fontes said, “…these are folks who are playing the courts, and using them to make political money, and political arguments.”