Early in-person voting begins in Arizona, draws visits from presidential campaigns
By GABRIEL SANDOVAL
Posted 10/9/24
Early in-person voting is beginning in Arizona, making it the first of this year’s presidential battleground states where all residents can cast a ballot at a traditional polling place ahead of …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
ELECTION 2024
Early in-person voting begins in Arizona, draws visits from presidential campaigns
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin/File)
A voter walks to a voting precinct prior to casting his ballot in Arizona's primary election, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in El Mirage.
Posted
By GABRIEL SANDOVAL
PHOENIX (AP) — Early in-person voting begins Wednesday in Arizona, making it the first of this year's presidential battleground states where all residents can cast a ballot at a traditional polling place ahead of Election Day.
The start of in-person voting in the closely contested state also is drawing the presidential tickets, with both campaigns scheduling visits this week.
Wednesday's voting overlaps with campaign stops by both vice presidential nominees — Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a Republican — who will hold separate events in Tucson on Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is scheduled to host a rally in Phoenix on Thursday, while former President Donald Trump will have one Sunday in Prescott Valley, a Republican stronghold.
President Joe Biden defeated Trump by just 10,457 votes in 2020, settting off years of misinformation and conspiracy theories among Republicans who refused to acknowledge Biden's win. It also has led to threats and harassment of election workers, prompting some election offices to boost security for their workers and polling place volunteers.
In Maricopa County, some schools have declined to serve as polling locations, citing harassment of workers and other safety concerns.
Early voting, particularly by mail, has long been popular in Arizona, where nearly 80% voted before Election Day in 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Each of Arizona's 15 counties is required to open at least one site for in-person voting, which runs until the Friday before the Nov. 5 general election. In Maricopa County, a dozen voting centers are scattered around the Valley.
Arizona had 4.1 million registered voters as of late July, according to the most recent tally by the Secretary of State’s Office. That figure likely is higher as both parties pushed to increase registration before Monday's deadline.
Early in-person voting has been underway in other states for a couple of weeks. It begins next week in four more presidential swing states — Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada.
We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.
___
Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.