He was also a major proponent of a review authorized by the GOP-controlled state Senate of all the ballots cast in Maricopa County in November 2020 — which bipartisan election officials, along with the Republican-controlled Maricopa County government, derided as an unprofessional fishing expedition.
Finchem has also called for the 2020 election to be decertified — something that is not legally possible — and has called for restricting early voting in the state.
Fontes served as Maricopa County’s recorder, the county’s chief election position, for four years after narrowly winning the office in 2016. Fontes lost a close election to Republican Stephen Richer in 2020. Richer went on to defend the county’s handling of the 2020 election during the state Senate review of the ballots there, which did not substantiate any legitimate claims of fraud.