Is this 'the worst we've seen'? What you should know about Arizona election threats in 2024
Trust in the election system in Arizona is eroding. Some may even say it's broken altogether.
One side says the vulnerability of voting machines and delay in election results is what makes the system distrustful. This was most obvious during the Maricopa County recount of the 2020 ballots that lasted months.
The other side says it's the new found distrust in the system that makes it broken.
But either way, a question remains among most Americans, and specifically Arizonan voters: how can we make elections better?
This question fuels the work of David Becker, co-founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research. He believes that technology and reliance on data can help us improve elections. While his research shows that leaning on technology can help, more counties like Cochise in Arizona are hoping for hand-counting.
Becker says a turn away from technology is a result of millions of Americans being preyed upon.
"They're highly incentivized to keep people who voted for the losing candidates angry and deluded about the loss of those candidates," he said. "And this has led to an effort to dismantle election integrity in the name of election integrity."
Election security for officials
Becker helped launch the Election Official Legal Defense Network, which connects election officials with free legal advice.
"They were experiencing challenges they had never experienced before. I get asked a lot. Is this the worst we've ever seen it with regard to election officials being threatened or abused? And my answer is: we've never seen this before," Becker says of the increased amount of harassment election officials are receiving, an issue that has led to people leaving office in Arizona.
In February, Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman announced he will not be running for reelection, leaving his role after more than a decade. In August 2023, an Iowa man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for sending death threats to Hickman over election integrity. In June 2023, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates also announced he won't be running for re-election, citing PTSD from election-related harassment.
This week on Election Dissection, an elections series of The Gaggle podcast by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Sasha Hupka sit down with Becker to discuss why he's confident in the safety of our elections systems, how America ended up in this position and why he's keeping an eye on those who oppose Donald Trump.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Is Arizona's election system secure in 2024? What voters should know