PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Elections Department is set to begin counting early ballots Tuesday.
State election officials say more than 645,000 ballots are already ready for tabulation.
Historic voter turnout is expected for this election with about 2.6 million voters eligible to participate, officials say. More than two million ballots have been mailed in Maricopa County and more than 20,000 voters have chosen to vote in person.
This year, ballot counting is expected to be more efficient than in years prior thanks to a few upgrades and changes:
- New equipment upgraded in 2019 allows for more efficiency, speed and security in the tabulation process
- Ballots have ovals to mark instead of arrows
- A 2018 law allowing ballots to be counted starting two weeks before Election Day
There are also some things to know about election results from Maricopa County:
- Unofficial results will be released at 8 p.m. on Election Night
- The county estimates that nearly all early ballots returned by the end of the month would be included in the first upload of unofficial results
- After Election Day, the county will post unofficial election results nightly at 7 p.m. and provide an estimated number of ballots left to count
- Voters have until November 10 at 5 p.m. to provide acceptable identification for provisional ballots and to verify any mismatched signatures on their mail ballot affidavit envelope
You can watch live videos from the county of the tabulation process online here.
For more election-related content, including a map of locations to vote or drop your ballot, visit our full election section.
