Threatening U.S. election officials is ‘domestic terrorism,’ says Arizona’s Secretary of State

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Adrian Fontes (D-AZ) declares victory in his campaign against Republican candidate Mark Finchem for Arizona's Secretary of State in the U.S. midterm elections in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., November 14, 2022. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is calling out threats against this country's election officials as "domestic terrorism." "One of the ways that I have been looking at this and addressing this is telling the really hard truth, and that is this: Threats against elections officials in the United States of America is domestic terrorism," Fontes said in a Sunday interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." He defined terrorism as "a threat or violence for a political outcome." "That's what this is," Fontes said. His remarks come as local election officials have expressed concerns about safety as the battle for the White House heats up heading into November. According to a report released earlier this month by the Brennan Center for Justice, 38% of local election officials across the U.S. have experienced "threats, harassment or abuse" just for doing their jobs, and more than half are concerned about their colleagues' safety.