wx2026-0403 POSTSHOW AZ-StateSec-AdrianFontes-SPANISH-v2.mxf-podcast

In this episode of Democracy Now!, host Amy Goodman speaks with Adrian Fontes, Arizona's elected Secretary of State, about the Trump administration's recent executive order targeting mail-in voting. Fontes strongly condemns the order as unconstitutional, arguing it unlawfully centralizes control over elections—powers explicitly reserved to state legislatures and Congress under the U.S. Constitution. He emphasizes that Arizona’s mail-in voting system, established in the 1990s by Republican lawmakers, is secure, reliable, and widely supported by voters, including elderly citizens who benefit from its accessibility. Fontes also addresses the false claims of election fraud from the 2020 election, citing multiple independent investigations—including by the Arizona legislature, Cyber Ninjas, and the state attorney general—that found no evidence of wrongdoing. He calls out the president’s persistent lies as a greater threat to democracy than any foreign or domestic interference. Additionally, Fontes discusses resistance to the Department of Justice’s demand for sensitive voter data, including Social Security numbers and tribal identification, which he refuses to release due to privacy laws. The conversation closes with a birthday tribute to Fontes, who has been a steadfast defender of election integrity in Arizona.