PHOENIX — With just one week to go until Election Day 2024, the focus is on early voting.
In Maricopa County alone, the Recorder's Office says more than two million early ballots have been mailed out to voters.
Right now, election workers are processing those ballots in what has become the largest "swing county" in the entire nation with an exploding population, razor-thin political margins, and increased scrutiny of elections.
ABC15 decided to dive deeper to show you what goes into the process of receiving, verifying, and counting your vote.
I recently went inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, commonly referred to as "MCTEC," in Downtown Phoenix.
Officials say they've added more metal detectors at entrances and exits, as well as more security on the property. You'll also notice a large metal fence outside the building which wasn't there during the 2020 election.
Taylor Kinnerup, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Recorder's Office, says it's all in an attempt to make not only election workers feel safer, but also to make the general feel more secure in the process.
And Kinnerup explains that's not the only difference you'll notice since the 2020 election.
In an area known as "The Big Room," where teams of bipartisan workers remove ballots from their official, signature-verified envelopes, there is an area where ballots are kept behind secure cages when they are in between processes. To access this area, you must use a badge. Only certain people can enter this area, and officials are able to do an audit to see who has entered.
Live streaming capabilities have also become more pervasive. Now, when you log onto the Maricopa County Recorder's website, you can stream a variety of cameras 24/7/365 - even when elections aren't happening. Click here to watch.
"People can literally see it happen with their own eyes," explains Kinnerup.
But that doesn't mean everyone is convinced. There are still unsupported claims of widespread voter fraud and threats to election workers here in Arizona and across the country.
According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 38% of election workers say they've experienced threats, harassment, or abuse, simply for their doing their jobs.
"The Board of Supervisors has to hire equal parts Republican, Democrat, and Independents," explains Kinnerup. "They hire 3,000 temporary workers and that's harder to do when we do have these external threats when you have people feeling less safe."
Just last week, an Alabama man was sentenced to two and a half years behind bars, accused of making death threats against Maricopa County elections workers. The U.S. Attorney's Office says, 60-year-old Jerry Ogstad pleaded guilty to one count of making a threatening interstate communication.
The U.S. Department of Justice even created a special Election Threats Task Force to handle these types of incidents. To see more, head to this website.
