Let’s talk election safety!

Have you been thinking much about the Secretary of States elections?

Secretaries of State Cisco Aguilar (NV) and Adrian Fontes (AZ)

Today I was getting lunch, and my mom was watching the LULAC webinar on elections. I was about to go back to work when I heard Nevada Secretary of State, Cisco Aguilar say that Senator Catherine Cortez Masto has been instrumental in fighting to to keep ICE away from polling stations, by restoring them as sensitive locations.

Safe to say I did not know she was working on that, and so I ran to grab my computer and started taking notes.

I am SO glad I did, cause this call was INCREDIBLE.

First, and certainly least important, I learned that the only two Latino Secretaries of State, Nevada’s Aguilar and Arizona’s Adrian Fontes are literally cousins. Their family should be very proud cause it’s so clear they care a whole lot.

Let’s start with Aguilar, cause he spoke first.

We have not been talking about Secretary of State races a whole lot. In fact, if you asked me who was running….in any state….I’d have nothing for you. That’s a problem. They are our best line of defense against Republican bullshit before, during and after elections.

Luckily, just because we aren’t paying attention, or maybe just me, doesn’t mean they aren’t acting. They are focusing on keeping the seats we have, and gaining some seats as well.

There are 26 states with SoS elections in 2026, we have 13 states we need to hold and 13 we could flip. Find out if you live in one of those states and consider this election as important as who you vote for in Congress. Who we vote for for SoS in ‘26, determines how we are able to vote in ‘28.

But there’s also the matter of getting people to feel safe voting at all. One of the best ways to do this is for everyone who is able to sign up to be a poll worker, especially Latino, AANHPI and Black people, because it’s easier to get someone to feel safer when they see someone who looks like them in a position of authority in the room.

He also said that it’s important to communicate directly with voters and become “trusted messengers.” For him, that means making ballots available and easy to access in a variety of languages, also getting texts in that language too.

He said especially in terms of Latinos, in Nevada, 1/3 of voters are Latino, but 50% of young students are, meaning Nevada is rapidly becoming more Latino, so he’s putting a lot of time and effort into make it as easy as possible for them to start businesses and feel like the SoS is a safe and helpful resource.

Fontes echoed alot of what Aguilar said, but also focused more heavily on the legal and legislative side.

He started by saying “now is the time to remain uncomfortable.” These fights are going to be hard and painful but we can’t shy away from them. Everything that happened in the past week with Swalwell is a testament to that.

He is putting focus into making sure that all law enforcement agencies in AZ know that it is illegal for anyone with a weapon to be in a polling place. He also mentioned that Republicans tried to introduce a bill that would change that, and thanks to a whole lot of pushback, it failed. Public pressure works!

He shouted out special elections and their importance, like the recent election that kept Turning Point candidates off the Salt Water River board and how we have to highlight and support election administrators at all levels.

Finally, he elaborated on what Aguilar said about communication.

He said becoming a trusted messenger isn’t about repeating the same message over and over again till it’s believed, but rather showing that you’re trustworthy through work in other areas. Each SoS office does several things. It’s important to put as much time and energy and focus into those other parts as elections. Someone is more likely to trust the safety and security of the election process if they have easily been helped by the office before.

It’s also worth mentioning that the disinformation hasn’t changed, just the method of spreading the misleading message. And both Democracy Defender’s Fund’s Norm Eisen as well as League of Women Voter’s Celina Stewart reiterated this along with Fontes.

They are prepared for EVERYTHING.

Eisen said:

We are gonna peacefully but lawfully fight in the court of law but also in the court of public opinion to explain what it’s all about, and we are gonna win!

And Fontes explained that part of the importance of all of these illegal rulings is to help Americans understand what is legal and what is illegal, even when the president doesn’t care. I hadn’t thought of that angle before. Most people don’t know what’s in the constitution, the more people who know the more informed voters are.

Finally, I’ll leave you with this. Stewart reminded us all that Trump’s mail in voting executive order happened because he’s losing. Because what those who are fighting like hell on the ground are doing. It IS working, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

So, now that you’re fired up and ready to fight, let’s go win some elections! Cause, your vote is your voice and that voice is your superpower, but only when you use it!