Adrian Fontes: ‘No one should get turned away’ on Election Day
Nov 2, 2018, 1:00 PM
PHOENIX – Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said nobody should be turned away from Phoenix-area polling sites on Election Day.
Fontes told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday that poll workers have been trained to make sure voters know all their options Tuesday.
“There’s a whole host of different things that can happen at a polling site, so no one should get turned away,” he said.
“But some folks might have to vote provisionally if they don’t have the proper ID on Election Day.”
The most common form of valid identification is an Arizona driver’s license, but the address must match what’s listed on the voter rolls.
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Other acceptable forms of ID are listed at the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office website.
Provisional ballots will be counted if the voter presents valid ID to the assigned polling location before 7 p.m. on Election Day or at the county elections office within five business days after the election.
Voters who received early ballots but missed the deadline to mail them in can submit them on Election Day at any poll location or voting center, not just the assigned site.
“Any polling place will take any early ballot as long as it’s in that sealed green envelope with a signature,” Fontes said.
“You can just bring it by, get past the line, drop it off, and get on your way.”
Most of the county’s 40 “vote anywhere” centers are also open Friday for early voting, and a handful will be open Saturday and Monday.
A map of the locations with hours of availability can be found here.
Fontes said every polling place will have an inspector onsite to handle issues that arise.
“That’s the first person a voter should look for if they think that they’re having a problem,” he said.
Information is also available at the recorder’s website or over the phone.
“If folks have any questions they can go to Maricopa.Vote or they can call our hotline, 602-506-1511,” Fontes said.
Fontes is hoping to avoid a repeat of the August primary election, when 62 polling sites weren’t ready to open on time.
Since then, he’s taken steps such as hiring extra poll workers, making sure they are properly trained and assigning equipment setup duties to elections employees rather than using a contractor.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino contributed to this report.
