Live blog: Arizona goes to the polls for midterm primary election

PHOENIX – Arizona voters headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their ballots in the state’s primary election.

Democrats, Republicans and independents is deciding who will represent them in the general election Nov. 8.

Top races include U.S. Senate, governor, attorney general, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction.

Anyone standing in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, election officials said.

“I don’t think we’re going to know [who wins Tuesday night],” political consultant Chuck Coughlin, CEO of Phoenix-based HighGround, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News as voting got underway.

“I think these Election Day ballots – people who are taking their early ballots today and dropping them off – is going to cause this to be delayed.”

In Maricopa County, the state’s most populous county, the elections department began posting unofficial results at Results.Maricopa.Vote at 8 p.m. and will update through the night.

Early ballots dropped off Tuesday will be verified and counted starting Wednesday until all ballots are tallied.

Don't forget to bring your ID if you're headed to vote in person. If your driver license doesn't have your new address, make sure to bring a utility bill or even your digital voter ID card. Learn about the types of ID accepted at the polls at https://t.co/NZ63mCFrK7 pic.twitter.com/nc3lSvmkX0

— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) August 2, 2022

8:14 p.m.

Paul Gosar won the Republican nomination for U.S. House in Arizona’s 9th Congressional District.

8:10 p.m.

The Democratic primary gubernatorial race was called for Katie Hobbs shortly after the first results were released, with Arizona’s secretary of state holding 75% of the vote.

8 p.m.

The first results of the primary election were released.

Early tallies show 601,384 voters cast a ballot in Maricopa County, about 24% of total eligible voters, the Maricopa County Elections Department said.

The first results released in Arizona are early ballots that have been received, verified and processed as of Sunday.

Results from in-person Election Day voting will be published as they are returned throughout the night from each of the 210 vote centers. It was estimated that 106,000 voters cast a ballot in-person on Tuesday.

Signature verification and processing of early ballots that were dropped off on Monday or Tuesday will begin on Wednesday.

Daily updates will be provided at 7 p.m. until all verified ballots are counted, with each providing an estimate of ballots left to count.

7 p.m.

The polls have officially closed in Arizona. However, those who are already in line will be able to vote.

6:07 p.m.

With under an hour until the polls close, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said 107,000 people had voted in-person so far.

5:49 p.m.

Just over an hour away from polls closing, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said over 90,000 people had voted in-person so far on Tuesday.

5 p.m.

Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Show her office has heard reports of scattered people patrolling drop boxes in some counties, including Maricopa County, but said she doesn’t think it’s been a huge issue.

“These people are not in anyway officially sanctioned and you don’t have to answer their questions, you don’t have to give them any information and you are legally allowed to drop-off any ballot for a household member or someone that you are a caretaker for,” Hobbs said.

She added there have been some issues in Pinal County as a polling place opened a few hours late and that is being addressed as to what can be done to make sure those voters still get a chance to vote.

Pinal County said unprecedented demand for in-person ballots has resulted in a shortage in certain, limited precincts. The county is continuing to print additional ballots and distribute them to each affected precinct polling place. Those who experience an issue are reminded they can use the express vote device at the polling place, or as long as they are in physically in line at 7 p.m. they will be permitted to cast a ballot.

4:30 p.m.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer tweeted that over 75,000 people have voted in person so far and that all 210 locations are still up and running.

People can also drop off their green early ballot envelope at any of the locations.

Richer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Show just after 2:30 p.m. that everything was going great except for an incident with people stealing pens that occurred earlier in the day.

“I didn’t think I had to say this but please don’t steal other people’s property at the voting locations,” he said.

Richer said approximately 600,000 ballots that have already been tabulated will be released at 8 p.m., which are the early ballots got over the weekend or before that.

“Then throughout the evening as the memory devices from the different voting location tabulators come in, we’ll load those into the server and we’ll report additional reports,” he said. “We’ll be loading results until midnight or maybe even later.”

Early ballots that were dropped off on Election Day but still need to be picked up, scanned and signature verified will be tabulated beginning on Wednesday, Richer said.

2:16 p.m.

Richer tweeted that more than 55,000 voters had checked in since the polls opened and the longest wait of the day so far was a 13 minutes.

The longest line at the time of Richer’s update was 15 minutes at the Radiant Church in Sun City, according to the county’s voting location web page.

12:47 p.m.

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office confirmed it sent a cease-and desist notice to a candidate running for the Board of Supervisors who encouraged her social media followers steal the provided felt-tip pens at voting centers.

“As you well know, theft of any sort is unlawful; moreover encouraging theft of the fast-drying ink pens specifically recommended for election day voting is a deliberate attempt to interfere with election administration and will have the harmful effect of delaying the vote tabulation of election day ballots,” the prosecutor’s office wrote to Republican Gail Golec.

“The Elections Department requests that you cease and desist from your call to steal the pens. Furthermore, it requests that you immediately tweet a retraction, acknowledging that no one should steal pens from voting locations and urging that no one do so.”

The email ended with, “We reserve the right to take any legal action necessary to protect the integrity of the election and the people’s right to vote.”

Noon

No fuss, no muss ballot-casting for Mike Ives, who voted at the Scottsdale Worship Center near 64th Street and Cactus Road.

“Piece of cake,” he said, adding he has always voted in person.

10:18 a.m.

Gov. Doug Ducey dropped off an early ballot and tweeted out a thanks to poll workers on Election Day.

Voted ✅🗳️

Thank you to the poll workers for making it easy and safe for Arizonans to vote today! Here’s how you can vote too:

Drop your early ballots at a secure ballot-drop box or any voting site. Or vote in person! Find your polling place here: https://t.co/lmRzU9sbi9 pic.twitter.com/44mO23pYod

— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) August 2, 2022

9:23 a.m.

The Maricopa County Elections Department reported more than 18,000 had voted in person and that some technical issues were taken care of, including the theft of some felt-tip pens used to mark ballots.

More than 18K voters have successfully cast a ballot in person so far today! Minor tech issues have been resolved as well as reports of stolen pens. Please do not remove any voting materials from the polling place, including pens.https://t.co/WXsuEj0sDe

— Maricopa County Elections Department (@MaricopaVote) August 2, 2022

9:10 a.m.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show that the longest wait time so far was eight minutes.

At 9:20 a.m., the elections department voting locations page showed Journey Church at 94th Avenue and Lake Pleasant Parkway in Peoria with a wait time of 6 minutes with 17 voters in line.

8:36 a.m.

Richer reported more than 14,000 had checked in across Maricopa County to vote in person.

7:45 a.m.

A woman who identified herself as Annette said voting went well for her.

“It was very quick and easy,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM at the Burton Barr Library voting center in central Phoenix.

“I was concerned when they were talking about the build-up for the security that was going to happen at the polling places – the plainclothes people that are going to be stationed around, which is fine, I’m good with that.”

Annette voted in person at one of the 210 locations.

“I usually don’t vote in the primary, but our governor is up and I’m getting involved,” she said.

6:20 a.m.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer tweeted that more than 1,000 voters had checked in.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jim Cross and Ben Brown contributed to this report.

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