Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry issued the following announcement on Oct. 26.

National elections expert John Fortier will join state and local officials on Tuesday, November 9, at Arizona State University for a discussion of Arizona’s elections system. Fortier is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and is the co-author of “Lessons Learned from the 2020 Election,” a special report made for the U.S. Elections Assistance Commission.

Arizona remains in the center of national headlines following the 2020 election, exposing the tension between two competing interests: access and accuracy. New laws aimed at reforming the voting process have been proposed at the federal and state level. The event, which will be produced by ASU students, will focus on Arizona’s elections process and ways policymakers can ensure its elections process is trustworthy.

“Studying elections at the American Enterprise Institute, I’ve had the opportunity to explore this issue from a national level,” said John Fortier. “The 2020 presidential election had record voter turnout across the board, including record turnout by mail. People care that their votes count, and they deserve to understand their election system. I commend the Arizona Junior Fellows and ASU SCETL for bringing about this thoughtful discussion on how to ensure voter access and build a trustworthy elections system.”

Fortier will be joined by respected state and local experts, including Hon. Kirk Adams, former Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives and chief of staff to Gov. Doug Ducey; and, Hon. Lisa Marra, president of the Election Officials Association of Arizona and the elections director for Cochise County. The discussion will be moderated by Hon. Eileen Klein, former state treasurer of Arizona and president emerita of the Arizona Board of Regents.

“The Arizona Junior Fellows are proud to co-produce this event with ASU’s School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership (SCETL),” said Joe Pitts, Arizona Junior Fellows program director. “We are excited to welcome Dr. Fortier to Arizona and hear from our distinguished panelists. Young voters care that their votes count, and they want to learn more about our state’s election system. This event gives them a perfect opportunity to do just that.”

“As a local elections official, nothing is more important than upholding elections laws and protecting people’s right to vote,” said Lisa Marra. “I look forward to talking about ways to ensure Arizonans can have confidence in their elections system.”

“We at SCETL are thrilled to welcome Dr. Fortier and our panel of state and local experts to our campus,” said Paul Carrese, director of SCETL. “It is imperative that we give the public access to factual information on our election process. I am proud that several of our students who are alumni and current members of the Arizona Junior Fellows program have decided to tackle this topic.”

The event is the second in the series “The Future of Arizona Democracy,” which is produced by the Arizona Junior Fellows, a project of the Arizona Chamber Foundation in partnership with the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University.

Original source can be found here.