Phoenix (United States) (AFP) – Serious glasses, a lawyer's degree and an impeccable tie: on the surface, Alexander Kolodin has everything it takes to manage the elections in Arizona, a key state in the United States. The problem is that he was sanctioned for spreading Donald Trump's lies in 2020.

Published on: 01/11/2026 - 09:55

The Republican billionaire, who still refuses to acknowledge his defeat in the presidential election that year, presents his 40-year-old foal as “a warrior for electoral integrity”.

In the midterm elections next Tuesday, he hopes to see him elected secretary of state in Arizona, a position responsible for overseeing elections in this southwestern region, and which will certify the results of the 2028 presidential election.

“We want a Secretary of State to have exactly that look, a little nerdy,” the president – ​​who regularly jokes about his desire to run for a third term, in defiance of the American Constitution – joked in mid-October.

Defeated with only 10,000 votes behind in Arizona by Joe Biden in 2020, the tribune at the time relied on Mr. Kolodin to try to invalidate the results.

The lawyer was among the team that filed a voluminous 300-page complaint purporting to prove massive election fraud.

Deemed unfounded, the procedure earned him a reprimand from the bar and an 18-month probation, with the obligation to take ethics courses.

"Extremist"

"He's an extremist, and (...) he's not the kind of person you want to see managing your elections," current Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes told AFP.

Campaigning for his re-election, the Democrat believes that Mr. Kolodin “could go so far as to allow President Trump to run for a third term in Arizona.”

“He would find a tortured legal explanation to achieve this,” he fears. “This guy is that radical.”

When contacted, Mr. Kolodin ignored multiple requests for interviews.

During a debate in August, a moderator asked him if he was an “election conspirator.” He rejected this “absurd” and “ridiculous” label, promising to “restore legal, secure, transparent and honest elections”.

In recent weeks, Donald Trump has been pulling out all the stops to prepare people for a possible challenge to the results of the midterm elections, during which he risks losing his majority in Congress.

His administration unsuccessfully tried to interfere in the electoral procedures of several states, accusing them of having foreigners on their lists, and the president promised a million dollar reward to Americans reporting the existence of proven fraud.

In this deleterious context, Mr. Kolodin's background concerns former conservative election officials in Arizona.

“What worries me is to see him telling lies about the elections and destroying the confidence that voters have in their electoral system,” says former Republican Secretary of State Ken Bennett, who held the position for six years.

Voting by mail

The 67-year-old former elected official is particularly alarmed by a referendum made a priority by Mr. Kolodin.

Submitted to a vote on Tuesday, the text proposes requiring Arizona voters to prove their identity when voting by mail.

Donald Trump has been storming for years against this method, asserting without evidence that it is a breeding ground for fraud.

In Arizona, the vast majority of voters already present identification when they register to vote. When they then mail their signed ballot, their initials are checked by election workers.

Many specialists therefore denounce the referendum pushed by Mr. Kolodin as unnecessary, and are concerned that the text does not specify how voters by mail should prove their identity.

The instructions should be devised later by the local parliament, controlled by the Republicans.

“We are asking Arizona voters to vote for something, without telling them exactly what they are agreeing to,” summarizes Bill Gates, another former Republican elected official and specialist in election administration at Arizona State University. “It’s worrying.”

For him, as for Mr. Bennett, this text could be used to severely restrict access to postal voting, used by the majority of voters in Arizona.

“Many Republicans love this way of voting, and Mr. Kolodin wants to eliminate it because of conspiracy theories,” said Adrian Fontes, the Democratic candidate. “It’s crazy.”

© 2026 AFP

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