Members of the Lifelong Learning Club recently took a field trip to the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, which offers a free two-hour public experience of how each of the approximately 2.5 million ballots is handled and tabulated in every election. Maricopa is the third largest voting jurisdiction in the nation and has the highest rate of voter turnout, 80% for the last presidential election.
During the tour, printing and tabulating equipment was being securely tested at the “tech island,” as is done before and after each election. In January, preparations for the 2026 mid-terms are underway and the warehouse of equipment is organized and being prepared for distribution to the 256 vote center locations. Signage, parking cones, tables and chairs, paper and office supplies and plastic storage bins are labeled on hundreds of tiered racks up to the high ceiling.
Club members saw how the envelope’s signature is verified against past signatures, sometimes involving a bi-partisan two-person team deciding whether to accept. Each team member is trained based on the FBI method of forensic document examination. Ballots are handled in batches of 200, with a clear chain-of-custody regularly recorded.
