Fontes anticipates spike in Arizona voter registration before November election

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said he expects to see an increase in voter registrations ahead of the November election.

Fontes warned Arizonans not to believe unvalidated claims that those increases are indication of “some nefarious activity,” citing past conspiracies attempting to link voter registration increases to election fraud.

“Data consistently shows that increases in the number of registered voters are a normal part of every single election cycle, driven by heightened public interest and, of course, last minute voter registration drives administered by candidates, political parties and activist organizations across all of our communities in Arizona,” Fontes said.

In 2022, voter registration decreased slightly between the primary and general elections, according to statewide statistics from the Secretary of State’s office.

But voter registration did see significant spikes in Arizona ahead of the past two presidential elections.

In 2020, the number of registered voters in Arizona increased by around 296,000 between the primary and general elections. For comparison, voter registration increased by just 56,000 between May and August of that year.

In 2016, voter registrations increased by about 188,000 between the primary and general elections, compared to a roughly 47,000 increase between May and August.