Friday Cutoff Looms for Early Ballot Requests in Pima County

Pima County voters wishing to receive an early ballot by mail for the July 30 primary must make their request by Friday, July 19.

Requests can be submitted via the Pima County Recorder’s website or by calling 520-724-4330.

Last week, the Pima County Elections Department sent out sample ballots with an incorrect date to registered voters. The error occurred in the section listing the 126 voting centers for Election Day, which indicated Aug. 30 instead of the correct date, July 30.

A postcard has been sent to inform voters of this mistake, and alerts have been placed on county web pages. “Elections is taking steps to ensure this unfortunate and regrettable error is corrected and that future communications about the election are accurate,” stated Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher in a memo to county supervisors.

The primary election date was moved from Aug. 6 to July 30 earlier this year by state lawmakers.

Voters have several options for casting early ballots in person or dropping off completed ballots. The Pima County Recorder’s Office has opened three new early voting sites this week:

• Oro Valley Library, 1305 W. Naranja Drive
• W. Anne Gibson-Esmond Station Library, 10931 E. Mary Ann Cleveland Way in Vail
• La Villita Community Center, 71 W. Sahuarita Road in the Sahuarita/Green Valley area

These join previously opened locations, including Pima County Recorder’s Office branches at 240 N. Stone Ave. and 6550 S. Country Club Road, and Fellowship Bible Church, 6700 E. Broadway Blvd. All sites are open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, through July 30.

Completed early ballots can also be dropped off at the Recorder’s eastside office, 6920 E. Broadway Blvd., but this location does not issue ballots.

Additional early voting sites will open on Monday, July 22. Early voting started earlier this month, and results will determine the nominees for the Nov. 5 general election, which includes races for U.S. Senate, Congress, the Arizona Legislature, and local offices.

As of July 1, Pima County has 231,815 registered Democrats, 173,977 registered Republicans, 4,578 Libertarians, 839 Greens, and 3,892 No Labels Party members. There are 204,344 people registered without these parties who can request Democratic or Republican primary ballots. Primaries for the Libertarian and Green parties are restricted to their members, and the No Labels Party is not fielding primary candidates.

The primary voter registration deadline was July 1. Emergency voting sites will be accessible on July 27 and July 29.

Officials recommend voters return their mail-in ballots by July 23. All early ballots must be received by the Pima County Recorder’s Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.