PHOENIX — Early voting is underway in Arizona, and voting locations are popping up around the Valley as the election kicks into high gear. However, finding those voting locations is a challenge this year due to safety concerns and the heightened political rhetoric.
“There's just been a lot more going on at the polls than ever before and again, our number one issue has to be to secure the campus and keep the kids safe,” Scott Thompson, Mesa Public Schools assistant superintendent told ABC15.
Mesa Public School District, the largest school district in the state typically opened its doors for voting locations, however, due to safety concerns the district has decided not to do it this election.
“It's not because we don't want to participate or we don't think this is really important. You know it's civic engagement, it's good for our kids, but you know we have to, we have to be safe. That's our number one thing,” Thompson said.
Another prominent school district in Maricopa County that hosted 17 vote locations in 2016, has since dropped to only one this election. The superintendent, who asked to remain anonymous said the district scaled back due to safety concerns.
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“It brings stress to my school community, we want to be a good community member and help out but at some point, you wonder if it’s even worth it,” the superintendent said.
While some school districts are backing out, others are stepping up, like the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which will have 30 voting locations across the Valley.
“The church as an institution, is politically neutral, but we're very strongly encouraged to study out the issues, to get involved. So when this opportunity came along to be helpful to the community, it fit right in with what type of partner that we'd like to be in the community,” Candice Copple, communication director for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arizona said.
Maricopa Community Colleges is also hosting nine voting locations and one ballot drop box.
“We feel this is central to our civic mission, we have campus security, we have campus police, we have regular routines and procedures to ensure the safety of any community members visiting our campus,” Deanna Villanueva-Saucedo, associate vice chancellor at Maricopa Community Colleges told ABC15.
For a full list of voting locations across the valley visit elections.maricopa.gov.
