PHOENIX—Voters turned out at the crack of dawn on Election Day in Maricopa County, Arizona’s largest county, with 2.6 million registered voters.
More than 1.5 million cast early ballots, and an estimated 600,000 were expected to vote in person, according to county election officials.
A line of voters waited patiently outside the Carefree Town Council Center before it opened as a polling center at 6 a.m.
The first voter in line said it “feels good” to vote in person. He declined to comment further.
“We gotta win—Trump’s gotta win,” Tom Parmer of Carefree, who voted for the Republican candidate for president early on Oct. 30, said.
“I don’t know if we can afford four more years of that kind of nonsense [from Democrats].”
Tom, another Carefree resident, who declined to give his surname, said he voted for former President Donald Trump and did so in 2020.
“I’m an early riser. Get out and go vote,” Tom told The Epoch Times.
He said he’s not a “big fan” of the Democratic Party or its border policies.
“I’m not a big fan of taxes. I’m not a big fan of the government,” Tom said.
“I’m not a big fan of regulation. I’m not a big fan of inflation. I’m not a big fan of interest rates going up.
Ariane Buser, a third-time Trump supporter from Carefree, said she voted “100 percent” for the former president.
“I couldn’t get here early enough,” she said. “I was No. 3 [in line]. I could have been No. 2, but I had to go to my car to get my water bottle.
“I just wanted to get it done.”
Regarding media predictions of voter conflict at the polls, Buser said she “absolutely is not” concerned and is “excited” about voting in this election.
She said securing the border, reducing inflation, and creating energy independence are the important issues for her.
Buser said that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, “do not care about the American people.”
“I’m sick and tired of it. We have to take our country back. Trump is the only person who can do it,” she said.
“We’ve got to stop the decline of our nation. We need to make our country strong again.”
Outside the town hall in Cave Creek, Arizona, Anna, a registered Democratic voter, said she voted “a long time ago” by mail-in ballot for Harris.
“She’s a sane, competent person—why not?” Anna said.
She said that she'd “hate to think” of a Trump win, but “it could happen.”
Troy Dunn from Cave Creek showed up to vote for Trump in a modified 2002 Ford pickup truck with an American flag waving in the bed.
“I voted for him last time. That’s the direction I want to go,” Dunn told The Epoch Times. “It’s just the day—a patriotic day. I hope it all goes down as a peaceful, do-what-you-got-to-do [day].”
Regarding what he would do if Trump loses, Dunn said, “I’m still going to wake up and go to work, just like I did today.”
Nick Gaudio from Cave Creek said he cast his ballot for Trump early, a week before the election.
Gaudio said that he was hopeful of a Trump victory and that he believes that a Democratic win would be “bad for the economy.”
“It’s going to be bad for the border. It’s going to be bad all around,” he said. “I’m not going to leave the country [if Harris wins]—this is my country.”
Xavier Worthy, 21, an unaffiliated voter from Cave Creek, said he was still undecided about whom to vote for in the election.
“That is a great question,” Worthy told The Epoch Times. “Both have great points of view.”
“My honest opinion—inflation. Whoever gives me better prices, that’s who I’ll vote for.”
At South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, a long line of voters waited patiently to cast their ballots.
Daniel Romero, from Phoenix, said he voted for Harris.
“I feel she’ll be better for the country. I don’t feel anything against [Trump],” he said.
Lisa Zataiain, from Phoenix, said she voted for Harris because the Democratic candidate’s policies align with her views.
“I just like what she has to say,” Zataiain said.
She added that if Trump wins, she'll “be fine with it.”
“We have a choice to vote,“ she said. ”At the end of the day, we have to go for whoever. I must think she’s for the people.”
First-time voter Ruben Lopez, 20, from Phoenix, said he voted for Trump mainly because of his stance on securing the border. Lopez said he also opposes the war in the Middle East and Ukraine, telling The Epoch Times: “That also plays a part in our economy and all the money being sent.
“I think Trump had a better take on my side. I’m not nervous. I was very confident with my vote. I did research on both ends. Kamala had some pretty good policies and some things I couldn’t agree with.
“I just think everybody has a right to vote. I didn’t feel any pressure. It was very smooth. People were very helpful here.”
