Arizona and Pennsylvania elected officials on the 2024 elections

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) – Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes and Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday about the upcoming election.

When asked if both Fontes and Schmidt would commit to certifying the election results “even if the winner is from the opposite political party,” both said, “Yes.”

During the interview, Brennan, Fontes and Schmidt talked about election security, and Brennan mentioned what the FBI director said last week that “it is incomprehensible and unacceptable that election workers have to worry about their security,” as well as as by the Department of Justice charged “individuals for threatening workers” in both Arizona and Pennsylvania.

When Brennan asked Fontes if there would be snipers above the tabulation centers and if it was based on “specific threat intelligence,” to which Fontes responded:

“Well, first of all, the authority and jurisdiction over specific tabulation centers is within the counties. My office supports all of them and, frankly, we don’t go into detail when it comes to our safety and security protocols. particularly the source, frequency or nature of any of the specific threats. We are currently in a situation where we are taking all necessary precautions to ensure not only the security of the vote, but that of all of our employees, our workers. at the polls, at our tabulation centers and, of course, keeping in mind the safety of our voters first and foremost.

Fontes also responded to Brennan’s question about whether the increase in security compared to what he had to do in 2020, said: “It is absolutely, completely different than 2020. In fact, I remember that in 2018 our biggest security threat was a rattlesnake in the parking lot.” in the Pinnacle Peak district. “So we are dealing with a radically different set of circumstances, but we are prepared and we are going to have a safe election.”

Brennan also asked Schmidt the same question about what he needed to do to increase security in his state, to which Schmidt responded:

“As part of the lessons learned from the 2020 experience, the Shapiro administration organized an election threat task force that I lead, comprised of federal, state, and local partners in law enforcement and election administration, so that if any of the ugly returns that we experienced in 2020. Everyone will be prepared. In 2020, as Secretary Fontes said, it was very different than before, and many of us had to scramble to figure out when the threats were coming, where we referred them and everything. . the rest of that. Now we have open lines of communication. Everyone is very clear about each other’s responsibilities, so we will be prepared in case some ugliness comes back.”

Following his interview with vice presidential candidate JD VanceBrennan asked Schmidt how concerned he was that U.S. intelligence would learn of “a fake video made by Russia to trick people into believing ballots were being destroyed in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,” and why he thinks Russia is targeting Pennsylvania.

“I am very concerned, and it is clear that foreign actors in bad faith are trying to undermine confidence in our election results, and it is not surprising that they have targeted several of the so-called battleground states and Pennsylvania. The video you refer to from the county of Bucks, to anyone with years of experience in election administration, was notoriously false. But if you don’t, it’s very easy for people to be fooled by others who try to undermine trust in us. “So it’s important. “for our counties to remain vigilant, for our Commonwealth to remain vigilant, and for our federal partners to remain vigilant, and for us to denounce any of these types of efforts to mislead our voters.”

Al Schmidt, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Later in the interview, Brennan, Fontes and Schmidt talked about Fontes and Schmidt’s swing states of Arizona and Pennsylvania, and Brennan asked Fontes what he’s doing in Arizona to make sure “citizens don’t vote in federal elections, which is already happening.” against the law”, to which Fontes said:

“If something like this happens, it is extremely rare. No system is perfect, and I admit that from the beginning. But the accusation that this is something that could change an election or is it something much bigger than that. And unfortunately, we still have candidates, elected officials and people with big megaphones who are lying directly to the American public and are basically playing the role of useful idiots I know for sure two foreign enemies who want to sow distrust in our democracy They want us to lose that civic faith that we have in each other as. Americans and divide us further, the source of a lot of this information and misinformation I have to say is coming from outside the United States and it is amplified by people in the United States who are helping those people, and that is just bad, and It’s bad for our democracy, it’s bad for business, it’s bad for law and education and science and everything else. So what I encourage people to do is stop being a Russian puppet. “Look at the people who are actually doing the work, ask them what’s really happening, and follow the truth, rather than amplifying the lies of foreign adversaries.”

Schmidt was asked the same question and he responded by saying, “I was a Republican election commissioner in Philadelphia County for 10 years… I assure voters that I care as much as anyone about election integrity. I investigated hundreds of allegations of electoral fraud”. voter fraud during that time, whether it involved double voting or accusations of people voting for dead people or non-citizens, and what that investigation showed time and time again was how incredibly rare it was for it to occur and how easy it is to detect it whenever it happens. There are incidents of it. “There are safeguards in the system from the dental details to ensure that election fraud, in the few cases where it occurs, is identified, investigated and prosecuted responsibly.”

Also during the interview, Brennan, Fontes and Schmidt discussed possible voter fraud in both Arizona and Pennsylvania.

“(Lancaster County) contacted us immediately as soon as they found out for guidance. As far as we can see, the county is conducting this investigation responsibly. The county has not concluded that investigation, so I can We will not talk about the number of cases yet. We will rely on them to make that determination and we will support our county partners as part of our commitment. I visited 67 of the 67 counties in Phil of Pennsylvania to sit down with them and make sure that there are resources. additional equipment, they need additional equipment or anything else like that, we provide it to them so that we have a free, fair and secure election in 2024, just like we had in 2020.”

Al Schmidt, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Brennan asked Fontes about former President Donald Trump’s comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast, where the former president said, “…Unless you have paper ballots, it can never be an honest election,” as well as how long it will take Arizona to know the results, to which Fontes responded:

“First of all, I’m glad that Mr. Trump agrees with the security of the Arizona elections, where we have 100% paper votes, and it has been that way in Arizona for several decades. Second, it will take us so long time as it has always taken us, while we have more voters, and in many cases and counties, many more voters. The time it takes us to process our ballots is based on doing it right the first time, not doing it quickly for news cycles or. For the sake of political satisfaction, we will have official results in about 10 to 13 days, but everyone knows that the networks and newspapers will make their forecasts when they see fit, and that’s how it works “I’m completely sure we’re going. to have what we need when we need it, which is when it will happen and when it will be necessary.

To see more of Brennan’s interview with Fontes and Schmidt, click here.