Election season is already well underway, with early in-person voting kicking off Oct. 9 in Arizona, a key battleground state.
Also, mail-in ballots will be sent out that day to voters who made a one-time request or who are on the state’s active early voting list. It is also the day drop boxes open across the state.
Arizonans who receive mailed ballots can choose to vote early in person.
“Only the first ballot received and verified by the County Recorder shall be counted,” the state’s election manual states.
The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 25.
Normal early in-person voting ends on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., four days before Election Day, Nov. 5.
But the state has an emergency period from Nov. 1 through 5 p.m. on Nov. 4. It covers those voters “experiencing an emergency between 5 p.m. on the Friday preceding the election and 5 p.m. on the Monday preceding the election.”
The elections manual states that Arizona’s county recorders “shall establish in-person early voting locations throughout the county as practicable to ensure that all voters may reasonably access at least one early voting location.”
Maricopa County, home to more than 60 percent of the state’s residents, maintains a list of voting center and drop box locations.
Maricopa County election workers remove ballots from a drop box on Nov. 8, 2022, in Mesa, Arizona. John Moore/Getty Images
A dozen of the county’s vote centers open on Oct. 9, while others open on Oct. 25, Nov. 1, Nov. 4, or Election Day. All drop boxes, including two 24-hour drop boxes, open on Oct. 9.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Republicans and Democrats in the county for comment.
Candidates Flock to Key State
The major candidates and their running mates are barnstorming the swing state.
Although the race is close, some recent numbers have shown former President Donald Trump, a Republican, leading Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. An AARP-commissioned survey conducted Sept. 24 through Oct. 1 found Trump with a two-point lead in the state.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average shows Trump with a 1.3 percent advantage as of Oct. 8. The RealClearPolling average for the state sits at a 1.4 percent edge for Trump.
Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), is slated to hold a rally in Tucson on Oct. 9, the day early voting begins.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) talks to local law enforcement, boarder patrol officials and ranchers as he tours the U.S. Border Wall in Montezuma Pass, Ariz., on Aug. 1, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s running mate, will appear in the state that same day. Walz will be in Chandler alongside Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the Democratic Senate candidate for a seat being vacated by Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat turned independent.
Gallego and his Republican opponent, former news anchor Kari Lake, will face off in a televised debate later that day.
Harris is slated to hold a rally in Chandler on Oct. 10.
Delegates welcome First Lady Jill Biden at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago on Aug. 19, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
President Joe Biden’s wife, First Lady Jill Biden, will be a Harris–Walz surrogate at events in Yuma on Oct. 11.
In addition, Trump will hold an event in Prescott Valley on Oct. 13.
Nathan Worcester
Author
Nathan Worcester covers national politics for The Epoch Times and has also focused on energy and the environment. Nathan has written about everything from fusion energy and ESG to national and international politics. He lives and works in Chicago. Nathan can be reached at [email protected].
