Elections
The Secretary of State serves as the chief election officer in the state of Arizona, which includes oversight of campaign finance for statewide and legislative candidates, verifying initiatives and referenda for the ballot, and certifying the official results of each election. A statewide or legislative election is scheduled for every even-numbered year, unless a special election is required.
For questions about county and local elections, we suggest you contact your county recorder’s office or city/town clerk’s office for assistance.
Arizona's Ballot Tabulation Process
Many people across Arizona, in the media, and across the United States are wondering why it takes so long to count ballots. So we wanted to take the time to explain the process.
Early Ballots
In Arizona, there are 15 elected County Recorders and their elections divisions tabulate the ballots and upload them to the Secretary of State’s website. The Secretary of State’s only role in this process is to display the results once they are uploaded by each county.
One of the major reasons it takes time to count ballots is that there are hundreds of thousands of early ballots dropped off at the polls on election day – approximately 320,000 statewide this time. The counties are currently working to verify the signatures on each and every one of those early ballots before they can be tabulated. Once the county election officials verify the signature on each of those ballots (which is no small task!), they then make sure that a voter didn’t cast an early ballot AND vote in person at a polling location. All of these processes take a little bit of time and is done to ensure that voters can trust the outcome of their elections.
Election Security
Another reason it takes time to tabulate the ballots is to ensure the security of our elections. It comes as no surprise that the security of our elections is at the top of everybody’s mind right now. Arizona has made it a top priority to make sure that our critical election infrastructure is secure from any nefarious actors. Some of these new security measures do however slow down the ballot tabulation process. For example, in Maricopa County, the data cartridge from each voting machine at the polling locations is physically removed from when the polls close and securely transported to a central location. Once at the secure location, each and every cartridge is then tabulated. Previously, the data was transmitted over secure phone lines instead of physically moved. This, while more secure, does slow down the process.
Arizona takes elections seriously – from the poll workers to the county elections officials, and the Secretary of State’s office and everybody is working diligently to tabulate all of the election results in a manner that Arizonans can be proud of and, most importantly, trust the results.
Hear more from Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes on the ballot counting process for Maricopa County: http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/maricopa-county-recorder-adrian-fontes-explains-why-ballot-count-is-progressing-...
Live Stream of County Ballot Tabulation Centers
For any statewide, county or legislative election, the county recorder or officer in charge of elections shall provide for a live video recording of the custody of all ballots while the ballots are present in a tabulation room in the counting center.
Apache | Cochise | Coconino | Gila | Graham | Greenlee | La Paz | Maricopa | Mohave | Navajo | Pima | Pinal | Santa Cruz | Yavapai | Yuma
Voter Outreach
The Secretary of State is dedicated to ensure the integrity of our elections. The voter outreach office will assist, train and when possible conduct non-partisan voter registration drives throughout the state. For more information, please contact the Voter Outreach Coordinator by phone toll free at 1-877-843-8683 or by email.
Popular Questions
- Online – If you have an Arizona Driver License and/or an Arizona non-operating I.D. card issued by the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) you may register to vote through Service Arizona EZ Voter Registration
- Log on to Service Arizona
- Select your language preference, then click “Begin Voter Registration”
- Verify your voter eligibility
- Enter your information in the required fields
- Verify address information
- You can now select your party preference
If you are having trouble logging in to the Service Arizona website, you can print off a Voter Registration Form and fill it out with your new information. After you finish, mail the completed form to your County Recorder’s office and your information will be updated.
- By Mail – You can either print off a form online or request that a registration form be mailed to you from your County Recorder. After completing the voter registration form, mail it to your County Recorder’s office
- In Person – You may visit your County Recorder’s office and fill out a registration form in person
- Address Confidentiality Program Members – You should only register to vote through the ACP process.
After you have successfully registered to vote you will receive a voter registration card in the mail within 4-6 weeks.
To find your exact polling location for an upcoming election click here.
The deadline to update your voter registration or register to vote in an upcoming election is midnight on the 29th day before the election. For the 2018 Primary Election, the deadline to register or update your registration is midnight on July 30, 2018. For the 2018 General Election, the deadline is midnight on October 9, 2018. All voter registration forms sent by U.S. mail must be postmarked on or before the deadline.
Every qualified elector is required to show proof of identity at the polling place before receiving a ballot. Find out what qualifies as an acceptable form of identification in Arizona.
An independent voter on the early voter list will receive a post card in the mail asking for the voter to choose which party ballot the voter wishes to receive for the Primary Election. If the independent voter goes to the polls on Election Day the voter will be given the option to choose a party ballot at that time.
The state of Arizona uses E-qual to verify that the person signing the qualifying slip or nomination petition is eligible to do so. After a successful verification the person can give $5 qualifying contribution slips or sign a nomination petition for candidates the person is eligible to vote for in the election.