New Maricopa County sheriff pledges to investigate threats, ensure 2024 elections are safe
Maricopa County’s new sheriff said Tuesday that election safety and security remains a focal point for his office heading into 2024.
Sheriff Russ Skinner said he intends to aggressively investigate threats against county election officials and ensure voting happens safely, with deputies dispersed around the Valley and ready to spring into action as needed.
“We will continue with that security effort in front, making sure that we're visible,” he said.
His comments came during his first news conference since he was appointed to lead the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office by county supervisors and as voting begins in the first major election of the year, the presidential preference.
Maricopa County has long faced false voting conspiracies following the 2020 and 2022 elections. Allies of former President Donald Trump tried to pressure county supervisors to question their ballot tallies after he lost the 2020 presidential race there, and county leaders remain a target for misinformation and threats — harassment that has pushed some to decline to seek reelection.
During the 2022 election, former Sheriff Paul Penzone restricted leave for deputies and closely monitored ballot drop boxes as groups of vigilantes videotaped, photographed and sometimes confronted voters. Like Skinner, Penzone sought to take a strong stance on election security as midterms approached and warned election skeptics against bad behavior.
Skinner said his office has already partnered with other law enforcement agencies to pursue cases against those who have physically threatened election officials and staffers.
He said he is seeing more threatening "electronic communication" than ever before in his law enforcement career and pledged to "bring them to justice," even if perpetrators are located outside of Arizona.
"We take all those threats seriously," Skinner said. "They should not be receiving threats."
Additionally, his office is already preparing measures like secured parking for elections staff to ensure security around upcoming elections. Skinner said he's implementing additional training for deputies to help them handle election-related situations that could be "over and above" what patrol officers would normally encounter. His office will again institute restrictions on leave for deputies around election times.
Voters should expect to see law enforcement personnel and security infrastructure such as barricades at the county's central vote tallying headquarters throughout the year's elections, he said.
"We do have some security measures already in place, even for this smaller election," Skinner said.
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Sasha Hupka covers county government and elections for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip on voting and democracy? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New sheriff says election safety, security remain focal point in 2024
