What Makes a Great Election in Arizona?

On February 25, 2026, the Mechanics of Democracy Lab, partnered with The Center for the Future of Arizona and Democracy Defense Project, hosted its first ‘What Makes a Great Election in Arizona?’ convening in Phoenix, Arizona.

The all-day event, located at ASU’s Thunderbird Haas Forum, invited over 90 elections officials, civil service leaders, technology experts, members of academia and more to participate in an important conversation that aimed to answer what makes an election great to Arizonans.

The convening marked the first of a three-part series designed to bring together leaders from across the state to explore what it takes to build and maintain trusted, effective elections in an era of unprecedented challenges and evolving voter expectations.

The day’s programming focused on the central theme of ensuring Arizonans’ voices inform those who are responsible for shaping state and local elections. To ground this conversation, CEO and President of The Center for the Future of Arizona Sybil Francis, introduced survey findings from a new statewide survey conducted by the Good Elections Project. The findings offered insights into what Arizonans believe makes a good election, anchoring the perspective and priorities of voters and their opinions.

Some of the survey findings revealed that nearly all Arizonans – 97% – say that fair and secure elections are essential to democracy and among those characteristics that define a “good” election include accuracy, transparency, accessibility and safety. The findings also found that trust in election officials remains relatively strong, having two-thirds of respondents expressing confidence in state and local election administrators when conducting fair and secure elections.

The rest of the day’s programming held a series of dynamic panels, featuring high-level leaders and experts from across the state to continue the conversation of the broader elections landscape. Some of these panelists include,

• Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of State
• Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County Elections Director
• Dana Lewis, Pinal County Recorder
• Matt Salmon, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives
• Helen Purcell, former Maricopa County Recorder
• Ruth McGregor, former Chief Justice of the Arizona Supreme Court

This dialogue is just the beginning of an ongoing conversation. The ‘What Makes a Great Election in Arizona’ series will continue to gather election experts and officials across Arizona in subsequent weeks in both Tucson and Flagstaff.

As the conversation continues, one principle remains – strong elections start with the people they serve.