After contentious 2020 vote, Maricopa County warns it could take nearly 2 weeks to count ballots
Election officials in the most populous county in Arizona are predicting a nearly two-week delay in order to count ballots in this presidential election.
Maricopa County Deputy Elections Director Jennifer Liewer said it will “take between 10 and 13 days to complete tabulation of all of the ballots that come in” and called for “the community’s patience” in a press conference on Tuesday.
“We want to make sure that this is a secure process, but we also want to make sure that it is an accurate process,” Liewer said.
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With an anticipated 2.1 million votes this year and approximately 400,000 ballots already cast, officials are emphasizing the importance of early voting. Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates highlighted the challenges posed by the two-page ballot, which features an average of 79 contests.
In an effort to streamline operations, election officials are increasing staffing, adding high-speed tabulators, and encouraging in-person voting on Election Day instead of dropping off early ballots, officials announced.
Assistant Maricopa County Manager Zach Schira warned voters about the potential for longer lines.
"If I have one message for voters here today, it is this: that the longer ballots and higher interest in this 2024 general election will create longer lines on Election Day, and that's OK," he said. "But if you want to save time and you want to avoid those lines, vote early, either in person or by mail. That'll save you time, and it'll help us report more results on election night."
"We are seeing a little bit of a lag of where we were in 2020, but the last few days, we've actually seen an uptick in turnout," said Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County elections director. "So I am expecting that we will start approaching very close to those 2020 numbers."
The Maricopa County elections are overseen by the Recorder's Office, which manages mail voting and the registration of about 2.4 million active voters, as well as the Board of Supervisors, which oversees candidate filings and in-person voting, according to county records.
Recent elections in Maricopa County have led to scrutiny and doubt raised by Republicans over the accuracy of results, perhaps most notably in 2020, when it took Arizona nearly a month to certify election results.
In the 2020 election, President Joe Biden secured a narrow victory in Arizona, winning the state by less than 1% and defeating former President Donald Trump in Maricopa County by a margin of 2%.
Maricopa County, the fourth most populous county in the United States, is known for its status as a swing district, with a relatively balanced composition of Democratic, Republican and independent voters, according to Gates.
In past elections, such as those in 2020 and 2022, Maricopa County’s tabulation processes have drawn criticism, but Gates noted, “We are concerned about that but there’s not a lot we can do.”
As Election Day approaches, officials anticipate a significant number of voters dropping off mail-in ballots, which could further extend the counting timeline due to necessary signature verification. Gates estimates that between 300,000 and 500,000 mail-in ballots will be submitted on Nov. 5.
A 2022 investigation into the county's handling of the 2020 election found “serious vulnerabilities” but no criminal activity.
While the report found Maricopa County failed to adequately verify voter signatures on some early ballots along with reported omission in its chain of custody for drop box ballots, it did not contain any allegations of wrongdoing or any specific criminal allegations.
