Early mail-in ballots were mailed to voters on Wednesday, October 7. I don’t know about you, but I received mine in the mail on the afternoon of Friday, October 9, which indicates to me that there was no mail slowdown in ballots going out in Arizona.
I filled out my ballot over the weekend and this morning took my ballot to the Pima County Recorder’s Eastside early voting site where they have a ballot drop-off box. The parking lot was full when I got there, and a steady line of voters were choosing to drop off their early mail-in ballots, rather than mail them. “You are not getting my ballot, Louis DeJoy! Not today!”
The U.S. Postal Service previously recommended that voters return mail-in ballots by return mail 15 days before election day, which is Monday, October 19. This means return your ballot this week.
There will be curbside ballot drop-off sites from October 19 to October 30 (in Pima County).
The state of Arizona and your county recorder say to return mail-in ballots by return mail before Tuesday, October 27. Please do not wait this long. Why risk late delivery of your ballot? Please return your ballot this week.
The last day for in-person early voting is Friday, October 30, with emergency voting on Saturday and the following Monday.
Upwards of 80 percent of Arizona voters vote early by mail-in ballot. I suspect that the overwhelming majority of votes will have already have been cast well before election day.
Do it today, don’t delay.
Received my ballot on Friday, filled it out and sealed the envelopes on Saturday. After sealing I realized I had not voted on the propositions which were on the back of the ballot, which resulted in some rather colorful language. Called the Recorder’s office this morning & the hold wait was over an hour. So after trying throughout the morning, this afternoon I was able to get through after a five minute hold. New ballot should be here Wednesday or Thursday so after filling it out the ballot will be hand carried to the Recorder’s office.
And the moral of the story is: Don’t be a Wileybud and be sure to check both sides of your ballot before sealing the envelopes!
You can chase your own ballot and ensure it has been received and counted at your county recorder’s website, too. I’m doing that to make sure my ballot is counted. If DeJoy’s sabotage delays my ballot, I’ll know and be in a position to vote in person on Election Day.