Phoenix officials expect good turnout for special election

PHOENIX – Determining the fate of light rail in Phoenix in a special election is bringing out voters, according to the numbers from the city clerk’s office.

Early mail-in ballots on Proposition 105 and Proposition 106 have already pushed overall turnout for Tuesday’s election higher than one held four years ago.

“We’re on track for a good voter turnout,” City Clerk Denise Archibald told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Monday.

If voters pass Proposition 105, expansion of light rail will be axed for good and the money will go to other infrastructure projects.

If voters pass pension-related Proposition 106, the city would be required to annually assess its pension debt and earmark “revenue over the budget limit to paying down pension debt.”

The turnout by Phoenix voters was 20.8% on Aug. 25, 2015, when they approved Proposition 104, which included a tax increase to pay for transportation projects over 35 years, including light rail.

The final vote was nearly 55% for the increase and around 45% against.

The clerk’s office had received around 165,025 completed ballots by Friday, spokesman Matthew Hamada said.

That’s about 30% of 549,128 early ballots sent to voters who requested them, and 21.5% of all the city’s 764,653 registered voters.

Voting centers open today from 6am to 7pm for the 8/27 #PHX Special Election. Details on locations and voting results are on https://t.co/EbSPClyYGe. #PHXElections #Vote pic.twitter.com/wcjYXBLJUS

— City of Phoenix, AZ (@CityofPhoenixAZ) August 27, 2019

Voting centers opened Saturday for in-person ballot-casting. The centers were also open Monday.

Polls will close at 7 p.m. The first unofficial results are expected to be posted online around an hour later.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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