Arizona's primary election: Is election mistrust the reason for low voter turnout?

Officials are happy that everything went smoothly for Arizona's primary election on July 30, but voter turnout was lower than expected at 26%. 

That's 200,000 fewer people participating than projected. 

At a roundtable discussion hosted by Arizonans for Secure Elections on July 31, the question of ‘Did some voters choose to stay home because they have been told to not trust the elections?’ came up.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people out there that are disparaging the election system, they just keep repeating the same thing over and over and over. They need to listen," said Former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.

Brewer sat alongside former congressman Matt Salmon and Don Henninger of the Arizona Democracy Resilience Network and emphasized why there is absolutely no reason to not trust election results.

"There's eyes and ears on virtually everything to ensure the safety of the voting process as we move forward," Henninger said.

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news:

They say every aspect of voting day is monitored. The poll workers are your neighbors who chose to volunteer. 

In Maricopa County during the primary election, 43% of voters were Republican, 40% were Democrat, and 17% were independent.

Voting machines are inspected, identification is required, mail-in ballots have a unique barcode to prevent people from voting twice, and signatures are double-checked. 

Even so, Brewer and Salmon, both Republicans, say candidates and voters in their party continue to buy into conspiracies perpetuated in part by U.S. Senate GOP candidate Kari Lake.

"We are going to reform elections and make sure that we're honest, transparent, elections that every Arizonan feels confident in," Lake said in 2023.

She claimed former President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss against President Joe Biden was rigged. She made the same claim for her own Arizona gubernatorial loss in 2022. 

After winning the U.S. Senate GOP primary on July 30, she did not respond to FOX 10's request for comment.

"I'm just wondering if those that are really skeptical about elections and won, I wonder if they’re going to go back and challenge it," Salmon said.

Brewer says, "They have a right to challenge it, but then they have to be realistic and pay attention to the results. They have to move on. If you lose an election, well then you lose the election. Dust yourself off, and you run again, and maybe you’ll win. You win an election, you celebrate and you move on. Because our elections are fair."

Going forward, Salmon brought up a point, saying election rules need to adapt with technology to prevent hacking and the misuse of artificial intelligence in campaigns.