Secretary of State’s Office moving to All Mail-in Candidate Filings

PHOENIX – Starting on Monday, March 23, 2020 the Secretary of State’s Office will be accepting Candidate Nomination Filings by mail only.

Appointments made through Friday, March 20 will still be honored. After that date, all in-person appointments will be canceled. The office also will not accept walk-in filings.

This decision was made after careful consideration based on guidance from federal and state health officials. Given the current public health concern, the office is limiting visitors and requiring staff to telework as much as possible.

Aspiring candidates who wish to appear on the Primary or General Election ballot in federal, statewide, and legislative races, must now mail their filing to our office. The filing must be received by April 6, 2020. All candidates will be able to mail in their nomination petitions. Candidates participating in the Clean Elections program may also mail the paperwork required to receive public funding. Instructions to file by mail are available on our website: https://azsos.gov/elections/candidate-filing.

All candidates registered in the Secretary of State’s Candidate Portal have received an email with information about this change. Each candidate will be able to schedule a one-on-one phone appointment with a team member to review the process before the candidate mails their filing. To ensure candidates have as much clarity as possible on this change, our office will host a webinar to review mail-in filing best practices. Candidates and campaigns should direct their questions to [email protected], which will continue to be monitored regularly.

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