South Dakota Governor Unable to Cite Election Fraud Cases During Arizona Visit

DHS Secretary Noem’s Arizona Visit Sparks Controversy Over Election Security Claims

Speculation swirled late this week when word spread that U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would visit Arizona to discuss “election security,” prompting rumors of a potential raid on Maricopa County’s elections office. The visit, which followed a controversial raid in Fulton County, Georgia last month, ultimately proved far less dramatic despite extraordinary security measures.

DHS officials shrouded the event in unusual secrecy, requiring journalists to RSVP a day in advance for a press conference at an undisclosed location. Approved reporters were instructed to gather at the main Homeland Security office in downtown Phoenix before being transported in a convoy of new Dodge Durango GTs to a Homeland Security Investigations field office in north Scottsdale.

Prior to the event, screenshots of a media advisory suggesting Noem would discuss “election security” with local officials circulated among media outlets, fueling speculation in right-wing circles. Some online commentators went as far as falsely claiming that DHS had raided Maricopa County’s elections office. Former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, who helped finance the widely discredited “audit” of Arizona’s 2020 election results, falsely tweeted Friday morning that DHS had raided Maricopa County Elections “minutes ago” before later deleting the post.

When Noem finally appeared nearly an hour behind schedule, she used the platform to advocate for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act) and urged Congress to pass it. Despite describing Arizona’s elections as an “absolute disaster,” she failed to provide any specific examples when pressed by reporters about her claims of widespread voter fraud by undocumented immigrants, responding only with, “Oh, I’m sure there’s many of them.”

Arizona’s top election official, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, criticized Noem’s visit in a video statement: “Have you ever had somebody come to your job and tell you to do a job that you’re already doing? Well, that is what Kristi Noem just did to the State of Arizona and my office.”

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes also condemned the continued spread of election conspiracy theories: “Arizona’s elections are safe and secure. The election deniers now staffing the Trump administration have spent the past six years lying to the American people in a deliberate effort to destroy trust in our election system.”

Mayes emphasized that “multiple investigations, independent audits, and courts across this country have all reached the same conclusion: voter fraud is exceedingly rare and has not played a meaningful role in the outcome of an election.”

Several Arizona Republicans attended the event, including U.S. Representatives Eli Crane and Paul Gosar, state Rep. John Gillette, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, and Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels. Also present was Jennifer Wright, an attorney and elections conspiracy theorist who previously led the Elections Integrity Unit under former Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Following the press conference, Rep. Crane doubled down on unsubstantiated claims about election integrity, telling reporters, “I think our elections are a joke,” and insisting that “there is still fraud out there in every election we had,” including his own.

The SAVE Act, which would implement a national voter ID requirement among other provisions, has passed the House of Representatives but faces significant challenges in the Senate, where Republicans lack the votes to overcome a filibuster. Arizona’s Democratic senators, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, have expressed opposition to the legislation.

Senator Gallego responded to the visit with a pointed statement: “If the Trump Administration wants to talk election integrity, let’s talk about January 6th. Let’s talk about how the President of the United States called the Governor of Arizona to order him to hand over the election he squarely lost.”

Voting rights advocates also expressed frustration with Noem’s comments. Alex Gulotta, Arizona State Director for All Voting is Local, characterized the visit as part of a broader pattern, stating: “Today, Secretary Noem made it abundantly clear — the Trump administration’s actions are all connected… there is no redline Trump and his administration won’t cross to undermine Americans for their own political gain as they continue to peddle lies about our elections.”