Click play to listen to this article.

(Arizona News Connection) Election Day will be here before we know it and Arizona is gearing up for possible setbacks from embedded election deniers.

Alex Gulotta, Arizona state director for the group All Voting is Local, said there are candidates who want to take power away from voters and who have already claimed if they do not win, the election was rigged. Gulotta argued it is simply not how things work.

Image

"The election is the people saying who won and people can't say ahead of time that the only way there is a fair election is if 'I win,'" Gulotta emphasized. "We just have a lot of that in recent years."

Gulotta noted his biggest concern for Arizona going into the fall is what he calls a "longer and more complicated," ballot which in most counties will consist of two sheets. He suspects it will create a number of opportunities for there to be issues processing ballots but wants Arizona voters to know election officials have backup procedures in place for if and when those situations arise.

Seven election deniers are on the ballot in Arizona running for a Congressional seat this November, according to The State United Democracy Center.

Tearanie Chinn, democracy defense senior manager for All Voting is Local, argued election deniers fundamentally undermine the principles of American democracy and not only pose threats to the nation's democratic values, but democratic processes as well.

"When these threats pop up, it is important for us to remember that we have passionate election officials, government leaders, who are already working to hold these bad actors accountable for their actions," Chinn stressed.

Chinn argued it is important to highlight county boards of supervisors, in Arizona and around the country, who chose not to certify election results during the 2022 midterms are facing criminal charges for what Chinn called a power grab.

Both Gulotta and Chinn said voters should expect hiccups in November. Gulotta added when minor issues arise, it is not a crisis, it's just the nature of Election Day.

"Our elections administrators' job is to put in place their well-thought-out and well-developed plans to deal with whatever contingencies they face," Gulotta asserted. "We shouldn't as voters blow those things out of proportion, because they are natural and normal."

Gulotta encouraged voters to remain resilient and determined to cast their ballot come November.