Officials planning for 53 polling places in special election to replace Franks
Jan 24, 2018, 4:23 AM | Updated: 10:27 am
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — More than 50 polling places will be opened in the Phoenix area for a special election to replace former U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, officials said Tuesday.
“It was important the voters in [Congressional District] 8 had a polling place to visit on Election Day if that is how they choose to cast their ballot,” Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman said in a press release.
Franks’ former district encompasses parts of Peoria, Litchfield Park, New River and other cities.
The county planned to operate 53 polling places for both the Feb. 27 special primary election and the April 24 general election. Hickman said the Elections Department may be open to adding more.
Each polling place will be staffed by at least six workers who will use electronic poll books, a system to print ballots on demand and a tabulation machine.
Voters who are on the permanent early voting list will receive their ballots in the mail. Those can either be mailed back to the county or returned at a polling place.
Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said the polling place plan also included an initiative to reach out to voters ahead of the special election.
“Due to the extremely shortened timeline of this election, this plan also includes a considerable education effort with social media, mailers and advertising in community papers,” he said in the release.
Franks resigned from office last month after he discussed surrogacy with at least two staffers.
