Arizona voters still have ways to cast primary ballots before Election Day

PHOENIX – The 2024 Arizona primary election is in the home stretch, but voters still have ample opportunity to cast their ballots before Election Day on Tuesday.

Maricopa County, home to about 60% of the state’s registered voters, will offer “emergency voting” as permitted by state law after the in-person early voting period ends Friday.

More than 50 metro Phoenix vote centers will be open Saturday and about three times that many will have in-person voting on Monday. Over 220 will be open on Election Day starting at 6 a.m.

Voters with early ballots at home can turn them in at any vote center or secure drop box until the polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Don’t put them in the mail, because they won’t be counted if they arrive after the polls close.

An interactive map with vote center and drop box locations, hours of operation and wait times can be found at Locations.Maricopa.Vote.

How many votes have been cast in Arizona primary election?

Arizona had just over 4 million registered voters through April, according to the most recent data from the Secretary of State’s Office. The numbers are likely higher now because Arizonans could register as late as July 1 and be eligible to vote in the primary.

According to Phoenix research firm Data Orbital’s early voting tracker, Arizona voters turned in nearly 800,000 ballots through Thursday. That’s a return rate of about 20% based on the April registration totals.

It’s difficult to project the final turnout. But for context of what to expect over the next few days, 34.9% of registered Arizona voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm primary election. The state turnout for the last presidential year primary was 36.4% in 2020. It would take over 500,000 more ballots statewide in the coming days to reach that range.

Turnout is always much higher in general elections than in primaries. It was 62.6% in 2022 and a whopping 80% in 2020.

What does data say about primary voting trends?

When breaking down the 2024 primary by party, Data Orbital’s early voting tracker shows Republican ballots coming in at a higher rate than Democratic ones.

Each party had more than 1 million early ballot requests, according to the tracker. Through Thursday, the Republican return rate was 37.3%, and the Democratic rate was 33.6%.

In Maricopa County, 38.5% of requested Republican ballots were returned through Thursday while the Democratic rate matched the statewide rate of 33.6%.

Unaffiliated voters can participate in the Arizona primary election, but they have to request a ballot for one of the parties from their recorder’s office. The deadline to request an early ballot has passed, but independents can make their choice in person until the polls close.

Programming note: KTAR News 92.3 FM will provide live coverage and analysis of the 2024 primary election results, with special shows from noon to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday.

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