• Slug: Election Misinformation. 550 words.
• File photo available (thumbnail, caption below).

By Jamie Montoya
Special for Cronkite News

PHOENIX – Maricopa County is ramping up transparency and education efforts in response to growing election skepticism.

Maricopa County is the nation’s second-largest voting jurisdiction and represents more than 60% of Arizona voters.

The 2020 presidential election marked Arizona’s shift toward a more competitive swing state, increasing the political spotlight on the county in subsequent elections.

Taylor Kinnerup with the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office said the county is doing “just about everything under the sun” to strengthen public trust in the upcoming presidential election.

Only 44% of Americans have a “great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence that votes in the upcoming presidential election will be accurately counted, according to a 2023 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll.

To combat this, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is providing tours and increasing video surveillance of its tabulation and election center, alongside other educational initiatives to battle misinformation.

Tabulation and election center tours

Since January 2021, the Recorder’s Office has provided more than 150 in-person tours. Participants are asked to fill out a survey before and after the tour assessing their confidence in the election.

“Our intent is to make the process as transparent as possible and as accessible as possible,” Kinnerup said. “That way, people can ask us questions directly.”

The Recorder’s Office partnered with researchers at the University of California, San Diego to measure the tours’ effectiveness. Data from over 200 attendees collected since February 2024 show an increase in trust among participants, particularly those who started with lower confidence in the election process.

According to the study, trust in Maricopa County elections rose by 7% after the tour. Republicans saw a 14% increase in trust, while Democrats recorded a 1.3% increase.

In addition to explaining the election process to voters, county officials are encouraging the public to watch it in action.

Due to tension during the last presidential election, the county has implemented a 24/7 livestream. Under state statute, these cameras are only required to be on during active election time.

“On Christmas Day, on any given Sunday … you can turn on those cameras and see what’s happening inside our election center,” Kinnerup said.

Battling Misinformation

In the 2020 presidential election, the county faced claims of voter fraud, leading to multiple audits and investigations. Despite no significant evidence of widespread fraud being found, a 2021 Yahoo News poll showed the controversy around the audit fueled ongoing disputes about election integrity and led to national attention.

Kinnerup emphasized the importance of fact-checking election information directly from official sources.

“If you have questions about elections, a politician who has never worked in election administration might not be your best resource. Your neighbor down the street who has never worked in elections might not be your best resource,” Kinnerup said.

The Recorder’s Office invited elected officials and candidates to tour its election and tabulation center. While Kinnerup noted officials don’t often accept the offer, the goal is to make the information just as accessible to them as it is to the public.

“Our hope really truly is that these elected officials see the weight of their words and they see how impactful their actions and words can be,” Kinnerup said. “We hope that they are really doing their homework.”

More information is available on the Transparency tab of the Recorder’s Office website.

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