What's at stake in an Arizona secretary of state race with no middle ground

Arizona’s next secretary of state is critical to the future of democracy.

Whoever wins not only will serve as Arizona’s elections chief, but also will have a strong bully pulpit to influence how elections are carried out, how votes are tallied and how elections are validated.

Yet the two candidates for the seat – Republican Mark Finchem and Democrat Adrian Fontes – couldn’t be more different.

Finchem, a leading voice who promotes without proof that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, wants rules tightened on who can vote, while Fontes raised eyebrows as Maricopa County recorder with his aggressive efforts to drive up voter turnout.

Voters should take a close look at the candidates’ background and how they’ll handle elections, the cornerstone of America’s democracy.

2020 election helps frame this race

The 2020 election helps frame how Finchem and Fontes would differ in executing the duties of the Secretary of State’s Office.

Finchem says he would not have certified the 2020 presidential election results, even though Arizona law required it. (That point was made by two of the three other Republicans in the GOP primary.)

In fact, he sought to overturn the results. Finchem and a group of GOP lawmakers signed on to a letter to then-Vice President Mike Pence asking that an alternate slate of electors for Trump be accepted instead, or for all Arizona’s electoral votes to be nullified until an audit could be done.

(In July, in a videotaped speech he gave to a group in Mesa, Finchem accused Pence of “a coup” against Trump for his efforts to thwart insurrectionists in the Jan. 6 siege and for backing moderate Republicans in primaries.)

What he said:Finchem accuses Pence of orchestrating a coup

Finchem also made national headlines for his role in planning the Jan. 6, 2021, rally on the U.S. Capitol that resulted in deaths and injuries. 

Ali Alexander, the architect of that rally turned riot, credits Finchem as the singular force behind the Stop the Steal movement in Arizona. Finchem continues to defiantly ignore facts and insist that the results in three counties, including Maricopa, should be tossed out because the elections were “irredeemably compromised.”

Finchem's evidence of fraud remains thin

He said in a televised debate this week that there’s plenty of evidence presented in court and elsewhere – such as in the movie “2000 Mules” that purports to demonstrate ballot-stuffing by political operatives – even though he couldn’t provide them beyond the prosecution of a small number of people in Yuma County. In the most high-profile case, two women pleaded guilty to ballot abuse after they unlawfully turned in ballots on behalf of other voters in the 2020 primary election.

When asked by a Time reporter why it’s not possible for him to believe Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Finchem said he hadn’t met one person who voted for him. “It strains credibility,” he said. When the reporter asked if it’s possible that more voters cast ballots for Biden, Finchem responded, “In a fantasy world, anything’s possible.”

It’s enough to suggest that if elected, Finchem may not certify election results with which he doesn’t agree.

Fontes, meanwhile, maintains that the election, including the one held in Maricopa County, was executed soundly and that his loss to Republican Stephen Richer was proof of it.

He sees no reason why the results should be called into question.

Finchem, Fontes are opposites on easy voting

Unlike the majority of his party, Finchem calls for a ban on early voting, used by an overwhelming majority of Arizonans, and having all ballots to be hand-counted.

He and gubernatorial hopeful Kari Lake are appealing a ruling by a federal judge that tossed out their lawsuit to outlaw voting-tabulation machines. The judge noted, among other things, their lack of evidence to demonstrate the machines are problematic. 

In other ways, Finchem is in lockstep with Republicans, including his support for tougher ID requirements to vote.

Fontes, on the other hand, views those additional requirements as voter suppression that harms particularly people of color and the elderly – despite polling that shows a majority of Americans approve providing, for instance, a photo ID to vote.

He supported an initiative pushed by progressive groups that called for more than three dozen changes to how Arizona campaigns and elections are run. It would have allowed, for example, same-day voter registration and relaxed compliance standards for citizen initiatives.

The Free and Fair Elections Act failed to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot following controversial court rulings. 

Expand access or pare it back. That's the choice

Fontes went against party leadership when he called for the Democratic Presidential Preference election to be open to independent voters.

Fontes also created a questionable plan to mail early ballots to all registered Democrats in that party’s 2020 presidential primary because of public health concerns at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. His failed attempt drew criticism from all sides, including Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a fellow Democrat.

The state Attorney General’s Office eventually got a court order to halt that plan.

Early in his term as county recorder, Fontes attracted scrutiny for going out of his way – hiring temporary workers, even – to re-examine voter registration forms that initially were rejected by the recorder’s office for missing proof of citizenship.

Fontes estimated some 17,000 people were added back to the voters roll after their citizenship was established through motor-vehicle department records. Legal and election experts at the time were split on whether he acted within the letter of the law.

A victorious Finchem would help solidify efforts by the Republican House Freedom Caucus at the Legislature, whose leaders have already made election integrity a key part of their agenda in next year’s session.

A victorious Fontes would serve advocates who want to expand access to voting, as well as a counterweight to what’s likely another GOP-controlled Legislature that’ll have election reform on its mind.

Whoever wins will have a big voice on all things elections for the next four years.

The choice for voters cannot be more stark.

This is an opinion of The Arizona Republic's editorial board.