Candidate Filing

Preparing to File 2020 Candidate Nomination Paperwork

Schedule a Candidate Filing appointment

We highly encourage candidates to make an appointment to avoid long wait times at our office. Here’s how appointments work: 
1.    Filing appointments can be made up to 30 days in advance. For example, if you want to file on March 30, 2020, the system will make that day available beginning on March 1, 2020.
2.    There are a limited number of appointments each day. If you don’t see the time you want, please contact us at 602-542-8683 or at [email protected] to get on the waitlist. If a time opens, we’ll schedule your appointment and let you know. 
3.    If you decide not to make an appointment or you can’t get off the waitlist, walk-ins are always welcome. Please be advised that we will prioritize candidates who have an appointment over walk-ins and we cannot guarantee a wait time but we will do our best to process every candidate’s filing thoroughly and efficiently.

You can make an appointment below:

AZSOS Candidate Scheduling Page

Helpful tips when making an appointment:

1.    The time to process your filing will depend on the office for which you are running as well as on whether you are participating in the Clean Elections program. The following chart provides an estimate to help you plan. Please keep in mind that timing may vary, and these times reflect an approximate historical average for each filing type.

Office CCEC Participating Candidate Traditional (Non-Participating) Candidate
U.S. Senator -- 3-4 Hours
U.S. Representative -- 2-3 Hours
Corporation Commissioner 2-3 Hours 2 Hours
State Legislature 1-2 Hours 1 Hour

2.    Our office hours are from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. If you file late in the day, we may not be able to process your filing until the following business day. 
3.    Our office is located at the Executive Tower at 1700 W. Washington St. on the 7th floor in Phoenix. We cannot accept candidate filings at any other location. Please check in with the front desk when you arrive.
4.    Please have all your documents ready to file. If you are missing paperwork or your petition sheets aren’t organized by county, we will move on to the next filer while you correct the error. 
5.    The deadline to file is April 6, 2020, at 5:00 pm MST. We cannot accept filings after this time.
 

Prepare Your Filing

Candidates must have the following documents before our office can process the filing:

  1. Nomination Petition Signature Sheets
    1. Must be organized by county
    2. Avoid common pitfalls:
      1. Sheets should be double-sided with the front containing signatures and the back containing the circulator affidavit
      2. Each sheet must clearly identify who is running and for which office
      3. The back of each sheet must be properly filled out by the circulator
  2. Three documents must be completed via the Candidate Portal before filing. Have questions about Candidate Portal? Email [email protected] or call us at 602-542-8683
    1. Nomination Paper
    2. Financial Disclosure Statement
    3. Statement of Interest (Must be filed via Candidate Portal before collecting petition signatures or by Jan. 2, 2020, if signature collection started before August 27, 2019)
  3. Candidates participating in Clean Elections must also have:
    1. Clean Elections Application for Certification
    2. Clean Elections Application for Funding
    3. Print-out of all $5 qualifying contributions
      1. Generate this report after entering your $5 QCs in Beacon 
    4. E-Qual report of qualifying contributions
    5. Qualifying contribution paper slips 
      1. Should be organized by county, then alphabetically within each county