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It takes days to finalize election results in Arizona. Here’s why

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It takes days to finalize election results in Arizona. Here’s why


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It’s the never-fail complaint the day after an Arizona election: It takes so long to get results.

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“Why is Arizona so far behind in counting votes?” a Reddit user asked journalists from The Arizona Republic in an AMA conversation Wednesday.

Blame the early ballots that get dropped off on Election Day at the polls. Stir in increasingly competitive contests, and it adds up to days’ worth of waiting for a definitive result. Maricopa County estimated vote counting would run 10-13 days before every ballot is counted.

But help is on the way, if voters are willing to exercise a little patience.

A speedier option

Starting in 2026, voters who are rushing to drop off their early ballot on Election Day have the option of showing their ID at the polls, opening their early ballot envelope on site and feeding the ballot into the vote-counting machine.

That way, the ballot will get immediately recorded, saving hours of time that currently goes to checking the validity of the voter signature on the ballot envelope.

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This is the result of a bipartisan bill lawmakers approved in February. It’s intended to speed up the voting counting process.

But there’s a hitch: It’s optional and it remains to be seen if voters showing up close to the voting deadline will slow down to stand in a line and show ID.

Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who sponsored the bill that made the change, said if voters understand that the tradeoff of taking a few extra minutes at the polls would speed up results, the new procedure could end many of the complaints.

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“The more voters who choose to present ID, it can only be a plus,” the Scottsdale Republican said. He noted voter behavior can shift quickly: He pointed to GOP voters, who four years ago were urged to spurn early voting. This year, they got the opposite message and they embraced it.

That was proven by returns that showed Republicans outpacing Democrats in turning in their early ballots early.

Days of waiting is routine

The delay that has become a hallmark of Arizona elections is due to the many options Arizona offers its voters. They can get a mail-in ballot and return it via the mail, pop it in a drop box, or take it in person to an early voting center.

Then there’s the late-early voter.

“We have a substantial number of voters who take their early ballot and they kind of keep it on their kitchen counter for like three weeks, ” Kolodin said.

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As Election Day nears, they realize they haven’t voted and they use yet another option: dropping it off at the polls. It’s quick and easy; they can avoid the line and deposit their sealed ballot in a box at the local vote center.

But those ballots take time to process because election officials have to verify that the signature on the ballot envelope matches that on the voting register. Verification can take time, especially if there are questions about the signature. The law allows five days to “cure” such ballots.

On Tuesday, 225,118 early ballots got dropped off at the vote centers in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous.

There’s also the factor of close elections. The Arizona state legislative races this year are a prime example. As of late Wednesday afternoon, Senate candidates in the east Phoenix/Scottsdale Legislative District 4 are separated by just 38 votes with 700,000 ballots yet to be counted in Maricopa County.

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Two years ago, it took until late December for Democrat Kris Mayes to be declared state attorney general. She won by 280 votes after an automatic recount.

Donald Trump holds a 112,176-vote lead over Kamala Harris in the race where 2.3 million votes have been cast thus far and hundreds of thousands of Arizona ballots have yet to be counted.

Make early ballots come in early

Kolodin said he’s toying with legislation that could further accelerate the vote count.

It would require all early ballots to be returned in advance of Election Day, such as the Friday before. That would give county election officials time to verify the voter signature on the envelopes and get the ballots ready for tabulation ahead of the Election Day rush.

If a ballot were not in by that cutoff date, the voter would have to go to the polls on Election Day to cast a ballot.

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It’s an idea that’s been broached before. It takes away one of the very convenient aspects of Arizona voting. But it would reduce the complaints and queries that, for decades, have followed an Arizona election.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @maryjpitzl.

Support local journalismSubscribe to azcentral.com today.





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Arizona

Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend

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Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend


TEMPE, AZ (AP/AZFamily) — The Arizona State Sun Devils are set for a huge matchup this weekend when they host the BYU Cougars at Mountain America Stadium.

Saturday’s game in Tempe will have massive implications in the Big 12 Conference with multiple teams chasing a title game appearance.

A win over the 14th-ranked Cougars would massively boost title game hopes for the 21st-ranked Sun Devils. Ticket prices have been soaring for the highly anticipated conference game.

Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham joined Good Morning Arizona on Thursday to talk about the team’s expectation-busting season. Watch the full interview in the video player at the top of this page.

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Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

Game of the week

No. 14 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 14 CFP) at No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2, No. 21), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

League newcomer Arizona State has a three-game winning streak and BYU is coming off its first loss. The Cougars, after losing at home to Kansas, still control their own destiny in making the Big 12 championship game. They can clinch a spot in that Dec. 7 game as early as Saturday, if they win and instate rival Utah wins at home against No. 22 Iowa State.

Arizona State was picked at the bottom of the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, but already has a five-win improvement in coach Dillingham’s second season.

The undercard

No. 16 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 16 CFP) at Kansas (4-6, 3-4), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

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Coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are in prime position to make the Big 12 title game in their return to the league after 13 seasons in the Pac-12. If BYU and Utah win, Colorado would be able to claim the other title game spot with a win over Kansas. The Buffs have a four-game winning streak.

The Jayhawks need another November win over a ranked Big 12 contender while trying to get bowl eligible for the third season in a row. Kansas has won consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history, knocking off Iowa State before BYU.

Impact players

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 14 consecutive games, while receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel both have more than 800 yards receiving. San Jose State is the only other FBS team with a pair of 800-yard receivers. Becht has 2,628 yards and 17 touchdowns passing for the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), who are still in Big 12 contention.

Inside the numbers

Oklahoma State goes into its home finale against Texas Tech with a seven-game losing streak, its longest since a nine-game skid from 1977-78. The only longer winless streak since was an 0-10-1 season in 1991. This is Mike Gundy’s 20th season as head coach, and his longest losing streak before now was five in a row in 2005, his first season and the last time the Cowboys didn’t make a bowl game. … Baylor plays at Houston for the first time since 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. The Cougars won last year in the only meeting since to even the series 14-14-1. … Eight Big 12 teams are bowl eligible. As many as six more teams could reach six wins.

Repeating 1,000

The Big 12 already has four 1,000-yard rushers, including three who did it last season. UCF’s RJ Harvey is the league’s top rusher (1,328 yards) and top scorer with 21 touchdowns (19 rushing/two receiving). The others with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons are Texas Tech career rushing leader Tahj Brooks (1,184 yards) and Kansas State’s DJ Giddens (1,128 yards). Cam Skattebo with league newcomer Arizona State has 1,074 yards.

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Devin Neal, the career rushing leader at his hometown university, is 74 yards shy of being the first Kansas player with three 1,000-yard seasons. Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 again.

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What BYU coach Kalani Sitake said about Arizona State game

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What BYU coach Kalani Sitake said about Arizona State game


BYU’s stock plummeted this week.

After suffering a 17-13 loss to Kansas — their first loss of the season — the Cougars dropped from No. 6 to No. 14 in the College Football Playoff Rankings and into a tie with Colorado for first place in the Big 12.

And now they’re 3.5-point underdogs to Arizona State (8-2) in arguably the biggest game on the college football schedule this weekend. The winner will be in the pole position for a berth in the Big 12 championship game; the loser will be all but eliminated.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake knows anything can happen in the Big 12, and the Cougars are still very much alive for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

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“You look at the conference, there’s a lot of parity … anyone has a shot,” Sitake said during his weekly press conference.

Here is a snapshot of what Sitake said ahead of BYU’s game with Arizona State:

Sitake on ASU Coach Kenny Dillingham

“Kenny Dillingham is a really good coach. I have a lot of respect for him and the way he coaches his team. You can tell he’s got a great connection with his players, and he’s a local kid so he’s from that area. He grew up an ASU fan and knows what that program can do. … I think he did it the right way bringing in a lot of local staff. … I know a lot of guys on his coaching staff. They’re really good coaches, good men.

“Looking at the talent that they have, it’s a difficult matchup. You have to be ready. We’re going on the road. We already know the time for that game and that it will be a little better weather than what we have here [in Provo]. Looking forward to the matchup. I think the goal is for us, like we said every week, stay humble, stay hungry and find ways to get better.”

Sitake on ASU Quarterback Sam Leavitt

“Really good player. He comes from a good family. He’s super athletic. He can run, he’s got an accurate arm. I think he’s got a great football IQ. He’s dangerous. He’s got a lot of football to play. I think he he saw some opportunities over there at ASU and you look at him, he’s thriving in it. He’s going to be a difficult matchup for us for sure. But man, it’s good to see good young men that you know are from amazing families get what they want. He’s doing some really cool things and he’s going to be doing really good things for a long time becauase I think he’s only a freshman right now. The sky’s the limit for him. Hopefully we just don’t see that great ‘sky limit’ performance this weekend.”

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Sitake on BYU’s Recent Offensive Struggles

“There’s a fine line between it all … the key to execution is just eliminating the mistakes. There shouldn’t be any mistakes. Whether it’s alignment issues or technique issues or even running the wrong route or not doing the correct assignment. So all that should be cleaned up. But there’s also some room for improvement where you can actually install some stuff. You want to have a foundation of stuff that you’re good at and that you could lean on, but that’s the stuff that everybody knows is coming. So we have to have that and you have to have a little bit of install that gives you the favorable matchup, depending on who you’re going against.”

“That’s what we’re trying to get done. Obviously it’s worked quite a bit, and the offense they’re getting in the red zone. We’ve just got to score touchdowns. It’s hard to get in the red zone and only kick field goals. Even though you have a good kicker like Will Ferrin you’re going to need to score points and score touchdowns and finish the drives. It gives you a little bit more motivation and a little bit more ‘umph’ when you’re trying to get it done, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

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Five Takeaways: Arizona defense Wednesday press conference (TCU)

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Five Takeaways: Arizona defense Wednesday press conference (TCU)


Fresh off breaking its five-game losing streak last week, Arizona heads back on the road this week to take on one of the most potent passing attacks in the country in TCU.

The Wildcats are coming off one of their most complete defensive performances this past week and figure to be challenged more against the Horned Frogs who head into this week boasting the No. 6 passing offense in the country. They will challenge the banged up Arizona secondary that has had many younger players step into key roles as the season has progressed. We’ve seen improvement across the board from them as they’ve seen more reps on the field.

Here are five takeaways from coach Brett Arce as well as Owen Goss and Dominic Lolesio during Wednesday’s press conference.

Dominic Lolesio getting into the starting lineup

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The injuries continue to pile up on the defensive side of the ball for Arizona that has led to lots of new players stepping into roles they may not have expected to be in at the start of the season.

Redshirt freshman Dominic Lolesio saw the field more last week in what was one of the more complete defensive performances of the season by Arizona. Lolesio recorded five tackles and a 0.5 tackle for loss.

“That’s just the standard,” Lolesio said. “We practice that all week. Our thing is to swarm to the ball and play together and have fun. I mean doing it all week in practice and then being able to go out and do it on Friday felt really good.”

Despite the injuries that have come up for Arizona, the next man up stance remains the same for the team.

“I feel like everyone is just as ready as the next man up,” Lolesio said.

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