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    5 takeaways from Arizona’s good day at the polls

    Online Niel Posted on

    Arizona saw a relatively smooth voting day since Tuesdayexcept for technical issues and long lines in the northeast corner of the state.

    Officials across the country were prepared for a busy day at the polls, and turnout was roughly in line with earlier estimates. For the most part, counties reported a steady stream of voters filtering through polling places with morning, noon and evening crowds.

    Some jurisdictions faced a long, two-page ballot that election officials feared would take voters more time to fill out at the polls and in lines. As expected, there was some anticipation throughout the day, especially as voters rushed to vote in the hours before the polls closed.

    However, lines were short for most of the day at all but a handful of polling locations across the state. The few longer waits that did occur were mostly in the one-hour time frame that officials had predicted.

    Election Day in Arizona: Stay up to date with our live coverage

    One problem seemed to mar the otherwise calm election day. Apache County, located along the state’s northern and eastern borders with Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, had problems with its electronic ledgers and printers Tuesday morning. That led to long lines and concerns from tribal officials.

    Here’s what you need to know about how the vote went — and what it means for Arizona’s electoral landscape.

    Apache County is seeing issues with voter registration, printers

    Apache County, which is rural and a few hours’ drive from metro Phoenix, has its voters check in electronically at the voter registers, which then communicate the correct voting style for the voter to the on-demand ballot printers at each polling place .

    The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office and Apache County officials confirmed in statements to The Arizona Republic that there was a technical glitch that prevented the process Tuesday morning.

    Voters were given provisional emergency ballots to use amid the trouble. But some sites ran out of those ballots, leaving voting operations to rely on accessible devices typically used by disabled voters. Voting continued slowly, but the problem left some Navajo Nation voters waiting in line for hours. Some have given up and left the polls.

    “It’s chaos right now,” said Tim Hardy, a Navajo Nation veteran and voter who voted at the Fort Defiance Chapter House after standing in line for three hours. “I’m way behind and it’s getting worse.”

    State and county officials said the issues were mostly resolved by mid-afternoon, with hours left for voters to cast their ballots before polls close. But tribal officials said they were concerned the technical glitch could have disenfranchised some voters.

    They noted that Navajo Nation voters are particularly influential in Arizona’s top races. Nearly 5 percent of the state’s voting-age population is Native American — and Native voters typically vote Democratic. When native voters have high turnout rates, they can tip races nearly to the left.

    As expected, some counties are seeing some long lines

    Nine jurisdictions — including populous Maricopa and Pima counties — had double-sided, two-page ballots on Election Day.

    Officials from all over the state has repeatedly warned that it could lead to wait times, car jams and other problems. But wait times remained well under an hour statewide in the morning and early afternoon, even as a steady stream of voters filtered through polling places.

    “Very, very short codes there, so that’s great,” Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said at a lunchtime news conference.

    Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett previously said he has hired more election workers, added new vote centers, increased polling station capacity and made other changes to mitigate the impact of the long ticket. Officials also encouraged voters to consider early voting or at least research contests on their ballot before heading to the polls.

    Officials in several voting jurisdictions also prepared by contacting counties in other states with experience with multi-page ballots. Maricopa, Pima, Coconino and other counties shared information from those discussions with each other to coordinate efforts to minimize the lines.

    In the evening, the lines started quickly. Maricopa County saw lines peak at just over an hour at its busiest polling places. About two dozen polling places in Pima County had wait times of more than 20 minutes.

    But even in the busiest polling places, poll workers and voters generally reported that voting went smoothly. Jakob Gerhard, a 23-year-old Mesa resident, said his voting experience took about two hours in total — from lining up to casting his vote.

    “It’s a long time there, but I knew I had to come and do it,” he said. “I think people take their time and read everything.”

    No credible national threats have been reported

    Voters headed to the polls on Tuesday in an electoral landscape irrevocably changed by false claims of stolen races. Four years after former President Donald Trump lost the state and election denial took root, officials continue to see threats, protests and harassment.

    But voting went off without incident at polling stations across the country on election day. Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner said there were no “credible public safety concerns” as of midday Tuesday.

    Officials previously sought to reassure voters that they are prepared to respond to any security incidents at the polls and during the counting process. New statewide election buildings boast state-of-the-art security measures, from cameras to fences to bulletproof glass, and Skinner said there will be “zero tolerance” for criminal activity and threats in Maricopa County.

    ““We’ve done everything we can to make sure our 15 counties are prepared for every scenario — from equipment failures to security threats at our polling places,” Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said last month. We are united against those who threaten our democracy and we stand ready to defend our elections through a peaceful, democratic process.”

    There were some harrowing moments on election day. Most notably, Fontes announced during an afternoon news conference that law enforcement is investigating bomb threats in Navajo County, a rural jurisdiction in the northern part of the state that overlaps parts of the Navajo Nation.

    But Fontes said those threats are not credible, calling them a scare tactic.

    “We have no reason to believe that voters or polling stations are in any kind of danger,” Fontes said.

    Many election campaigns, but the candidates largely followed the rules

    Campaigns and political supporters were at the polls on Tuesday.

    Democratic volunteers served free churros from a blue food truck in Mesa. A pink party bus bearing a “Trump Train” sign made visits to polling places around the Valley, ready to send voters to nearby polls in case of lines.

    Republican Kari Lake made appearances at several polling places in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. Her opponent, Democrat Ruben Gallego, was spotted briefly at a polling place near the University of Arizona in Tucson.

    But despite all the activity, election officials reported few violations of the rules. There was one notable exception: Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, a Republican, was kicked out of a polling place at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix for crossing the 75-foot line marking the campaign boundary.

    Arizona law limits polling places to select groups, including absentee voters, election officials, political party monitors, voter assistants and minors accompanying voters. Candidates, protesters and journalists are not allowed inside the 75-foot perimeter.

    Horne, 79, said he didn’t realize he was inside the 75-foot perimeter while gathering signatures for his 2026 re-election campaign. He said he “immediately stopped asking for signatures” when someone informed him that he was breaking the law. He collected only “a few” signatures before leaving the restricted area, he said.

    There were also a few instances of vitriolic comments. In one case, a group of men blared vulgar music from their car with the windows down, yelling obscenities about Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris as they left the Marley Park parking lot in Surprise on Tuesday night.

    But at other polling stations, Republicans and Democrats campaigned peacefully side by side. Outside a library in Queen Creek, volunteers manning tables for Harris and Trump were friendly with each other as they chatted with voters on their way to vote.

    Are trouble-free elections enough to regain voter confidence?

    False claims of voter fraud marred the 2020 election. Then, widespread technical problems in Arizona’s largest cities added fuel to the fire in 2022.

    Election Day was a chance for officials across the country to regain confidence.

    Voters interviewed at polling stations they described going to vote with a deep sense of unease. Many said they felt the future of the country was riding on top races. In the weeks leading up to the election, poll workers and voters also expressed concern about potential security issues at the polls and waiting for election results.

    In the battleground state of Arizona, voters said they knew every vote counted — and that their vote could ultimately play a huge role in deciding who takes the White House in January.

    “I definitely feel anxious. This is a big one,” said Greg Meecham, 22, who voted at First United Methodist Church near the University of Arizona in Tucson. “There are a lot of issues with this election, no matter which party you’re in, and it’s disturbing.”

    Still, voters seemed to leave the polls hopeful. Paradise Bush, 29, of Phoenix, said she went to drop off her early ballot feeling “tired” but was relieved once she did.

    “I’m really happy and excited to see what (the outcome) is, whatever it is,” she said. “Hopefully, afterwards, we can all come together and be more positive with each other.”

    Reporters Reia Li, Arlyssa Becenti, Hayleigh Evans, Sarah Lapidus, Daniel Gonzalez, Nicholas Sullivan, Lane Sainty, Jose Romero, Ray Stern, Meredith White and Mary Jo Pitzl contributed to this article.

    Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Get to her at [email protected]. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps. Sign up for her weekly election newsletter, The story of the Republic.

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