Pima County Expands Early Voting Centers Ahead of Crucial July 30 Primary

Pima County voters have new locations available this week for casting early ballots or dropping off vote-by-mail ballots, ahead of the July 30 primary election.

The primary’s results will determine party nominees for the Nov. 5 general election, including races for U.S. Senate, Congress, the Arizona Legislature, and several local positions. Key races include a four-way contest for a Pima County Board of Supervisors seat, a critical decision for the Pima County Attorney’s Office, and various legislative races that could shift the balance of power in the Arizona Legislature.

Election officials advise voters to mail their vote-by-mail ballots by Tuesday, July 23. Ballots submitted after this date should be dropped off at designated locations or at a voting center on Election Day.

Independents are eligible to vote in Democratic and Republican primaries by requesting a ballot, although independent turnout has historically been low. As of July 17, 195,464 Democratic primary voters in Pima County requested early ballots, with 41,719 returned, including 2,106 from independents, according to Uplift Campaigns. Overall, Democratic turnout was 16.8 percent.

For the Republican primary, 177,174 voters requested early ballots, with 27,252 returned, including 1,920 from independents. Overall GOP turnout stood at 14.4 percent.

In the 2022 midterm primary, Pima County saw an overall turnout of 36 percent, with Democratic participation at 51 percent and GOP participation at 57 percent.

New early-voting sites include:

• Woods Memorial Library, 3455 N. 1st Ave.
• Eckstrom-Columbus Library, 4350 E. 22nd St.
• Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River Rd., suite 105
• Kirk Bear Canyon Library, 8959 E. Tanque Verde Rd.
• Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Building, 3500 W. River Rd.
• Miller Golf Links Library, 9640 E. Golf Links Rd.
• Valencia Library, 202 W. Valencia Rd.
• Pascua Yaqui Wellness Center, 5305 W. Calle Torim
• Wheeler Taft Abeett Sr. Library, 7800 N. Schisler Dr.
• TOKA Community Building, 51 Baboquivari Dr. in Sells
• Salazar-Ajo Library, 15 W. Plaza, suite 179, in Ajo

These join existing early-voting locations such as:

• 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
• Pima County Recorder’s Office, 240 N. Stone Ave.
• Pima County Recorder’s Office, 6550 S. Country Club Rd.
• Fellowship Bible Church, 6700 E. Broadway

Voters can submit early ballots and drop off completed ballots between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through July 26 at these locations. The Salazar-Ajo Library will be closed for lunch between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. daily.

Voters can also drop off completed early ballots at the recorder’s eastside office, 6920 E. Broadway Blvd.; however, this location will not offer ballot collection services.

Emergency voting will be available on Saturday, July 27, and Monday, July 29, with varying hours. More than 330,000 early ballots were sent to Pima County voters on the Active Early Voter List on July 3, with additional ballots sent as requests came in.

As of July 1, Pima County had 231,815 registered Democrats, 173,977 registered Republicans, 4,578 registered Libertarians, 839 registered Greens, and 3,892 registered with the No Labels Party, according to the Pima County Recorder’s Office. There are also 204,344 voters not registered with these parties who can request a ballot in the Democratic or Republican primaries.

The deadline to register to vote in the primary was July 1, and the deadline to request an early ballot through the mail was July 19. Emergency voting sites will be open on July 27 and July 29. Early ballots must be delivered to the Pima County Recorder’s Office by 7 p.m. on Election Day.