Secretary of State Adrian Fontes Responds to County Attorney Mitchell’s Finalized Maricopa County Voter Roll Probe

PHOENIX – Today, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced that her office is officially wrapping their voter roll probe referred to her office by Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap. Her office concluded that of the 60 voters examined, 52 were citizens and 8 were legal residents and registered through a flaw in the Moter Vehicle Department’s system. No charges were announced. Secretary Fontes released the following statement in response to this announcement:

“This is yet another example of our system and safeguards working. I find it deeply disappointing that others have used this moment to spread the false narrative that our elections are not secure but, thankfully, they have once again failed to provide any proof to substantiate their claims. I respect the work of the County Attorney to put this matter to bed quickly, and I look forward to our election administrators conducting a safe and secure 2026 general election this November.

Despite the clarification provided today, I want to explicitly state that while the SAVE databased can be a necessary tool in proving voter citizenship, misuse of the data can lead to inaccurate results ultimately gutting the right of eligible citizens to vote. My office has directed the counties to once again begin using the SAVE database as outlined by the Supreme Court’s recent decision for ongoing list maintenance and voter roll clean-up, and it is critical to remember that data in the SAVE system must be verified before it is ever used to disqualify a voter.

Ultimately, Arizona voters can remain confident that no massive voter purges will take place prior to the November 3rd general election.”