Arizona election officials voice concerns about Trump Administration’s lack of support

Tensions are rising between Arizona election officials and the Trump Administration as the heart of the midterm election season approaches.

Frustrations came to a head on Monday, August 17, 2026, during a rare election security call hosted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) for state officials. During that call, Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes expressed to the agency his concerns about their lack of support and said the Trump Administration has repeatedly threatened state election officials.

Dion Nissenbaum, Senior National Reporter for Votebeat, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the upcoming midterm election season and the concerns expressed by state election officials.

CISA was created to help prepare for cyberattacks during elections; however, during the second Trump administration, the agency has done nothing, Nissenbaum said.

“The agency used to provide tabletop exercises to weigh things out, to look for vulnerabilities in their election systems; it provides them with classified intelligence on a potential threat coming from foreign actors, and that’s disappeared,” Nissenbaum said.

Nissenbaum said the concern is the midterm election being so close while still lacking federal support.

“A lot of states have tried to step in and find new ways to deal with a lack of federal support, but it’s really just sort of one episode that’s creating tensions between the state and federal government over elections,” Nissenbaum said.

Nissenbaum said that as tensions continue to rise, it is unclear what President Trump will do before the election.

The administration has said it will withhold federal funds if states don’t implement the changes they want, Nissenbaum said.

“We don’t know what President Trump will try and do between now and midterm elections to try and issue a new executive order or try and take new steps that could throw more wrenches into the problem,” Nissenbaum said.