Poll: Over 60% of Arizona voters concerned about election irregularities

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Election Day is officially less than a month away, and new polling shows over 60% of Arizonans are concerned about voting irregularities affecting the presidential election.

Not only did 6-in-10 Arizona voters say they worry about election integrity, but the new poll also found 8-in-10 Republicans in the state believe the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

Officials are working to combat this fear and restore the public’s trust in elections. The Democracy Defense Project, a bipartisan group which includes former Arizona. Gov. Jan Brewer, launched this summer in key swing states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to defend what they call the transparency, safety, security and validity of the country’s electoral system.

Project organizers say many voter concerns about election integrity are already addressed by Arizona laws and regulations, and more prominent leaders are needed to speak out about the facts.

Former Arizona Congressman Matt Salmon, a Republican, and former State Rep. Daniel Hernandez, a Democrat, are board members on Democracy Defense Project. They say the purpose of the project is to bring both parties together to restore confidence in elections.

“Matt and I, a Republican and a Democrat, don’t agree on much, but we agree that Arizona elections are free, fair and secure, and we need to do more to regain that trust,” Hernandez said.

“And it’s more important now than ever because the polling showed that both parties have some concerns about the election,” Salmon added. “Now, they’re different. On the Democrat side, they’re more concerned about election interference. Whereas on the Republican side, they’re more concerned about noncitizens voting.”

The former lawmakers says confidence in elections leads to safe transitions of power.

“I served in the legislature with a lot of these folks who are on the legislature saying the election was stolen,” Hernandez said. “So I wasn’t surprised by the results. That’s where it’s so important that we educate people about the actual process that exists in Arizona because even legislators don’t know how our elections work.”

They expect this election in Arizona will be met with scrutiny, and vote counting will take a longer than usual amount of time.

The last day to register to vote in Arizona is Monday, Oct. 7, and early ballots will be mailed two days later.

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