CLOSE

Election Day is a month away, but voting will start soon in Maricopa County.

There will be more days and ways to vote in the county than ever before, because of COVID-19.

The county’s registered voters can vote by mail, drop off their ballot at a secure drop box monitored by election workers, vote early in-person at a vote center, or vote in-person at a vote center on Election Day.

Voting starts Wednesday.

Election Day, the final day of in-person voting, is Nov. 3. Mail-in ballots must be sent by Oct. 27.

The county on Wednesday will open seven vote centers where registered voters can cast ballots in person. The number of vote centers open will increase steadily over the next month, until Election Day, when 175 vote centers will be open.

Also on Wednesday, the county will begin to mail ballots to voters on the Permanent Early Voting List and to voters who have requested a mail-in ballot for this election.

Voters have until Oct. 23 to register to vote under a new deadline set by a federal judge on Monday, and they have until Oct. 23 to ask the county to send them a ballot in the mail.

Locations for in-person voting have changed since the last general election. Instead of having an assigned polling place, voters can now go to any of the county’s vote centers to cast ballots.

Some voters may have concerns about mailing their ballots because of threatened postal service changes, which never came to fruition, or have concerns about voting in person because of COVID-19.

See what’s on your ballot

County Supervisor Bill Gates assures voters that they can feel confident and safe voting either way. 

Gates said the county has talked with local officials with the U.S. Postal Service, and no changes or reductions in service have occurred to mail sorting machines in the county.

And several precautions are in place at the polls to maintain social distancing and protect the health of poll workers and voters, he said. 

“It’s an incredibly difficult time for an election nationwide, but I believe that Maricopa County is uniquely positioned to give voters different options they can be comfortable with,” Gates said.

See the end of this article for information on voting in other parts of the state.

Voting by mail

Most Maricopa County voters plan to cast their ballots by mail.

As of Sept. 30, about 2 million of the county’s registered voters, or 78%, were on the county’s Permanent Early Voting List. About 47,000 more had requested one-time ballots.

The county is sending out ballots on a rolling basis starting on Wednesday.

The deadline for mailing ballots back to the county is Oct. 27.

If voters get a ballot in the mail but want to deliver their vote in person, they have a few options.

They either can bring their ballot, sealed in the envelope it came in and with their signature on the envelope, to a vote center. 

Or, they can bring it to one of the county’s secure ballot drop box locations.

This is the first election the county will have drop boxes outside of sports facilities in the county, along with inside municipal government offices, said Maricopa County Elections Department spokesperson Megan Gilbertson. Trained staff members will be positioned at the drop boxes at sports facilities, she said.

The list of vote centers and dropbox locations are available at locations.maricopa.vote or by calling 602-506-1511.

Voters who got a ballot in the mail also can choose to get a new ballot at a vote center, and cast that one instead (just as long as they haven’t cast the other one yet).

The county has technology that allows it to see if a voter has already voted by mail or at a vote center.

Voters must drop off ballots at vote centers or drop boxes by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Voting in person

Because of the space needed to properly social distance voters, the county decided to get rid of traditional polling places in favor of vote centers where any voter can cast a ballot.

Many of the locations now will be in larger spaces such as malls, convention centers and stadiums.

The county will have a searchable map of vote centers, with wait times, on its website at locations.maricopa.vote. Voters can also call 602-506-1511 for vote center information.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, most of the vote centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Voters can check the county’s website for the correct times for each week and center.

There are fewer vote centers than there traditionally have been polling places, but Gilbertson said the county says it has made up for the reduction by opening the vote centers days before the election and increasing the number of check-in stations at each vote center.

Under state law, Arizona voters need to show photo identification with their name, photo and current address to cast a ballot in person. If a voter doesn’t have a form of ID with all of this information, they can still vote, they just need to show a little more proof of who they are.

The Recorder’s Office has details on its website about what identification is required.

Voters who don’t have the required ID will cast provisional ballots that will be reviewed later by county officials.

Voters can drop off someone else’s sealed and signed early ballot if the voter is a family member, a roommate or a caregiver of the other person. 

COVID-19 precautions will be in place at vote centers

Walking into the vote center, voters will see markings on the floor every six feet to encourage them to keep space between themselves and poll workers.

The check-in stations, usually close together, will each have their own table separated by six feet.

Poll workers will disinfect black sharpies — the most effective marker to use on the ballots — before handing them to voters, Gilbertson said.

Every poll worker will be outfitted with a mask, face shield and gloves. One poll worker at each site will be dedicated to sanitizing the vote center.

That said, the county encourages voters to wear a mask and will have masks and gloves available for all voters, she said.

If a voter does not wear a mask, poll workers are instructed to immediately sanitize the area where that person voted, Gilbertson said.

Votes cast early will be counted early

The earlier a voter casts a ballot, either by mail or at a vote center, the earlier the ballot should be counted.

The county will start counting votes on Oct. 20, Gilbertson said.

The county has a goal of counting all votes received by Sunday, Nov. 1, by Election Day, she said. Those votes will be part of the first “drop” of results released on Election Day at 8 p.m.

The county estimates it will have counted 99% of all ballots within five business days after the election, according to its election plan. 

Maricopa County dates to know in the November election

Here are those important dates again:

  • Monday, Oct. 5: Statewide voter registration deadline
  • Wednesday, Oct. 7: Maricopa County begins to send out mail-in ballots to voters on the Permanent Early Voting List and other voters who requested a mail ballot for this election.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 7 through Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3: Registered voters can vote at any open vote center location.
  • Friday, October 23: Last day to request a ballot in the mail.
  • Tuesday, October 27: Last day to mail back your ballot.
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: Election Day. Registered voters can cast ballots at all 175 vote centers.

Maricopa County links to keep handy for November election

Here are some important links:

How to vote in other Arizona counties

Here’s where Arizona voters outside of Maricopa County can find important information about voting in their county:

Reporter Jessica Boehm contributed to this report.

Email your questions and tips about voting in Maricopa County to [email protected] or at 602-444-8763. Follow her on Twitter @JenAFifield

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

Read or Share this story: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2020/10/06/maricopa-county-voters-here-all-ways-you-can-cast-your-ballot/5870005002/