Maricopa County to check if voters returned early ballots at polling places

Election season is in full swing and Arizona’s primary is no exception.

Monday is the last day to register to vote in the Aug. 30 primary election. To clarify some misconceptions from past elections, Democrats, Republicans and independents can vote in the primary elections.

As a matter of fact, independent voters have one of the largest voting groups in Maricopa County.

According to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office in 2012, many voters requested an early ballot, but instead of using the provisional ballots, they showed up at the polls on Election Day.

This will no longer be the case because Maricopa County’s Electronic Poll Books (E-pollbooks) system can verify if a voter has sent in their early ballot or not. The last day to request an early ballot for the primary is Aug. 19.

There are over 700,000 independent or unidentified-party voters and only 12 percent have sent in their ballot requests so far.

Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell said, “We do not see the participation that we originally hoped for.”

Voters who are not on the Permanent Early Voting List will receive a sample ballot 11 days before the election and the voters assigned to a polling place will be listed on there as well. Additionally there are 724 polling places, one for each precinct.

Voters must go to their assigned polling place on Election Day, because their vote will not count otherwise. You can find out your correct polling place on the Maricopa County website.