Arizona Primary Election

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It’s election day here in Arizona, which means we are bringing you a special election night here on Arizona Horizon. Joining us on today’s show is owner of Elevate Strategies, Lorna Romero Ferguson, and John Fetherston from Husch Blackwell Strategies.

What is the primary election?

According to Arizona Clean Elections, a primary election serves to narrow down each recognized political party’s candidates. The candidates that win the nomination in the primary election advance to the general election. Arizona has an open primary which allows voters registered as “independent” to participate by designating to their County Recorder which partisan ballot they would like to receive.

Headed to the polls?

Arizona Clean Elections says that voters must go to their assigned polling place. Polling places are only equipped to provide official ballots to those registered voters that are in the specific precinct for that polling place location. If a voter goes to the wrong polling place, they will not be able to receive the correct ballot style for their voting precinct. The poll worker should notify the voter of their correct polling place location; however, if a voter chooses to stay at the incorrect polling place, they have the right to vote a provisional ballot. This provisional ballot may not count if the County Recorder determines the voter was not at the correct polling place.

Ballot security

With election security being such a big deal, Clean Elections has laid out what type of security will be offered. The counties must adhere to chain of custody protocols, meaning that there is a log/paper trail for every single ballot. This includes all early ballots and all ballots at voting locations. Ballots are stored in secure locations and there is a live video feed in the ballot tabulation room for every county. Counties must follow the procedures manual for ensuring the physical security of all ballots. This includes the use of tamper evident seals, identification badges, the presence of two or more staff members of opposite political affiliations, audits, etc.

If you want more information, click here.

Lorna Romero Ferguson/ Owner- Elevate Strategies and
John Fetherston/ Principal, Husch Blackwell Strategies

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