Arizona voters who have yet to receive their mail-in ballots are being encouraged to vote early in person instead.
Some voters who requested early ballots have reported not receiving them, namely in Maricopa County where approximately 1.9 million ballots were mailed out. The county has more than 2.5 million registered voters, which makes up more than half of the state’s more than 4.3 million voters.
Early ballots for in-state voters were mailed out on October 7, the same day that early voting began. Uniformed and overseas voters were mailed their ballots on September 18.
The deadline to request a replacement ballot is Friday, October 23. Voters may request a replacement ballot by contacting their county recorder’s office. Election officials recommend mailing early ballots back by October 27 at the latest.
Arizona Republican Party Chair Sergio Arellano said it will turn out better for those voters without their mail ballots if they act proactively by voting early and in person, rather than waiting for a ballot that may not come or turning up on Election Day and hoping there won’t be another problem with their ballot.
Arellano reported that their party received “numerous reports” of voters still missing their ballots as of Sunday.
“Voting in person allows election officials to address your outstanding early ballot and verify your identity so you can cast your vote on the spot, provided you meet the applicable identification requirements,” said Arellano.
Those who choose to vote in person should be prepared to announce their name and place of residence, and bring with them a valid ID. Voting locations may be found on county recorder websites.
Valid ID is categorized into three lists.
List 1: Voters may use one form of the following ID types to vote: valid Arizona driver license; valid Arizona non-operating identification card; tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal ID; or valid U.S. federal, state, or local government-issued ID.
IDs for federally recognized tribal members aren’t required to have an address or photo in order to cast a provisional ballot.
List 2: Or, voters may use two different forms of the following ID types to vote: utility bill for electric, gas, water, solid waste, sewer, telephone, cellular phone, or cable TV dated within 90 days of the election date; bank or credit union statement dated within 90 days of the election date; valid Arizona vehicle registration; Indian census card; property tax statement for residence; tribal enrollment card or other form of tribal ID; Arizona vehicle registration card; recorder’s certificate; valid U.S. federal, state, or local government-issued ID including a voter registration card issued by the county recorder; any mailing marked “Official Election Material.”
List 3: Or, voters may pair any List 1 valid photo ID in which the address doesn’t reasonably match the precinct register with a List 2 non-photo ID in which the address does reasonably match the precinct register. Voters may also pair any U.S. passport without an address and one List 2 item, or a military ID without an address with one List 2 item.
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Maricopa County is transitioning dozens of election sites while early voting is underway.
The Board of Supervisors and Recorder entered an agreement to transition 46 election sites from the recorder’s office to the board by Election Day on November 3.
BOS Elections Dept presentation on 2026 general election “Transition Plan”
The leadership teams from Recorder’s Office & Board of Supervisors agreed to Vacate the lawsuit rulings.
46 election sites will be transitioning from Recorder’s Office to BOS by Nov 3rd Election Day. pic.twitter.com/o6vCZTsAeP
— Thomas Galvin: Maricopa County Brd of Supervisors (@ThomasGalvin) October 19, 2026
The board discussed the transfer during its informal meeting on Monday. It is the outcome of a settlement agreement between the county recorder and board to vacate court rulings in the former’s lawsuit against the latter over election roles and responsibilities.
The 46 voting locations will be transitioned from early voting to emergency voting sites. The county aims to accomplish each site transition within 45 to 90 minutes.
Scott Jarrett, director of elections for the county, said during Monday’s meeting that he was “very confident” that the county would experience a “smooth transition.”
Under the agreement, Jarrett said, the board and recorder won’t share election equipment. Jarrett said the transition of equipment and sites reflected best practices for chain of custody and security.
“The reason why we’re doing this is, not only was it part of the settlement agreement, but this is a principle that is established in business practices, in government,” said Jarrett. “So that’s one of the main reasons why we’re not sharing this equipment: it’s to adhere to the [principle of] least privilege[.]”
Ballot-on-demand printers, check-in stations, and corresponding cabling will be swapped upon transition. Only non-technical equipment will stay, like voting booths, signage, and tables.
Taylor Kinnerup, communications personnel for Supervisor Thomas Galvin, posted a statement claiming that this refusal to share was because the transfer of site equipment was required.
The language of the agreement doesn’t include a requirement for transition and even supports shared equipment, as noted by Merissa Caldwell, EZAZ chairwoman. The agreement does state that the board was required to give the recorder ownership of early voting equipment, and that the board handles the procurement, deployment, and control of equipment and supplies.
The agreement also allowed for the board and recorder’s office to purchase early voting site equipment jointly.
Despite the arrangement that took place this week, the supervisors and recorder have not been operating on friendly terms.
Some of the supervisors, including board leadership, attacked Recorder Justin Heap last week for adhering to federal policy and filing a complaint about suspicious activity witnessed on a ballot tabulation center livestream.
Footage reflected two elections workers entering the tabulation center late at night to upload flash drives into elections equipment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation quickly investigated and cleared the workers of wrongdoing. The county also issued statements clarifying that the footage reflected authorized work updating ballot duplication system software and uploading election files.
Days later, a voting location in Chandler had the settings for three ballot printers altered. The recorder’s office replaced the printers and sent them for forensic examination, and on that same day issued a press release notifying voters of the incident. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating but says it has so far found no evidence of election interference or a crime.
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Pima County voters will decide on Election Day in November whether to increase the spending cap by 75%, from $817 million to more than $1.4 billion.
Proposition 425 would increase the county’s permanent base, or expenditure, limit that aids in calculating the county’s spending limit under state law.
Arizona law requires all counties, cities, and towns to limit how much local revenue may be spent. Counties and municipalities calculate expenditure limits by multiplying the amount spent in fiscal year 1979-80 by the estimated growth in population and a measure of inflation.
The county spent $1.8 billion and accrued a revenue of $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2026-2027. Estimates from the county show that it has utilized at or near 100% of its expenditure limit since 2001.
The county FAQ page states that the approval of Proposition 425 would add $70 million to its 1979-80 expenditure base. As noted by Scott Day Freeman, an attorney with the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based public policy and litigation firm, the $70 million was based on 1980 dollars rather than 2026 dollars.
According to the ballot language, the $70 million is actually more than $610 million when adjusting each future year for population and inflation growth since 1980.
In the proposition, the county stated that it doesn’t anticipate approaching full utilization of the increased expenditure limit for another 20 years at least.
Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott told KOLD that the county will continue to run out its expenditure limit in the years to come. Scott said that the expenditure limit by design has failed to keep up with modern budgeting needs.
“What we know from looking at our own expenditure and revenue projections is that we’re going to bump up against that expenditure limit in the next two to three years,” said Scott.
The county also stated that the spending cap increase would not authorize any new tax or raise any existing tax, and would be allowing the county to spend existent revenue that it cannot legally touch.
Pima County Supervisor Steve Christy toldThe Center Square that he had concerns with how the board plans to spend the money, which he called a “blank check,” if the proposition is approved. Christy said he believes the board has failed to target spending on “core foundational matters,” citing infrastructure, road repair, public transportation, and public safety.
“They want to have the ability and flexibility to spend more money by removing these cap restrictions,” said Christy.
Some citizens believe the county’s ask is too great.
A coalition of these citizens formed the bipartisan “No on Prop 425” campaign to try to dissuade voters from approving an expenditure limit increase. The campaign’s co-chairs, State Sen. Sally Gonzales (LD-20), a Democrat, and Jay Tolkhoff, a former Republican candidate for Tucson City Council, believe the spending cap increase is too large.
Despite what the county promised, Tolkhoff said he worries the increase would eventually cause property taxes to be raised.
“They can say, you know, no taxes,” said Tolkhoff. “You start spending more money; that money’s going to come from some place, and it’s going to come from higher property taxes.”
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief was in Phoenix on Friday to oversee deportation flights for what the agency said were “dangerous illegal aliens.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin oversaw the deportation flights headed for Mexico. Among the deportees were illegal aliens identified as pedophiles, violent assailants, drug traffickers, drunk drivers, burglars, and gang members.
DHS quoted Mullin in a press release as saying that these latest deportation flights out of Phoenix are part of this administration’s continued promise to mass deport illegal aliens.
“The American people voted for mass deportations, and that’s exactly what we’re giving them. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are removing dangerous illegals like these from our communities and from our country every single day,” said Mullin. “We will not stop until we have deported as many illegals as possible, so that we can make America safe again.”
Friday’s deportees included:
Jaime Velasquez Orozco, convicted in the past of child sexual abuse, attempted rape, domestic abuse, burglary, battery, driving under the influence, hit-and-run, and drug possession.
Jiovany Baray-Acosta, convicted in the past of driving under the influence with a minor in the car, drug possession, illegal weapon possession, and kidnapping.
Noe Ochoa Torres, convicted in the past of child abuse, sexual assault of a child, and drug possession.
Luis Antonio Vasquez Encinas, convicted in the past of attempted sexual exploitation of a minor under 15.
German Garcia-Ordonez, convicted in the past of assault and battery in the presence of a minor.
Filiberto Preciado-Gamboa, a gang member convicted in the past of domestic abuse, drug possession, and shoplifting.
Jose Cruz Estrada, convicted in the past of domestic abuse, terroristic threats, driving while intoxicated, and evading arrest.
Rolando Carbajal Villegas, convicted in the past of driving while intoxicated and assault.
Octavio Felipe-Olivera, convicted in the past of driving under the influence and disturbing the peace.
DHS reported last December that more than 2.5 million illegal aliens have left the country since Trump took office in January of last year. Of those exits, more than 600,000 were reportedly formal deportations and approximately 1.9 million were voluntary self-deportations.
Approximately 10 million illegal aliens reside within the country.
DHS and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) also announced on Friday that the preliminary data for this fiscal year indicate a 95% drop in southwest border apprehensions compared to the last administration, along with what they allege to be the “lowest annual encounters in American history and the first-ever fiscal year with zero Border Patrol releases.”
According to CBP, encounters of illegal aliens along the southwest border have dropped from an average 177,000 encounters per month during the final year of President Joe Biden’s administration to about 11,000 encounters per month under President Donald Trump.
In CBP’s 2026 fiscal year — which runs from October 2025 through September 2026 — there have been just over 128,000 encounters. Under Trump’s first month in office, monthly encounters dropped by about 20%.
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Members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors are publicly airing their grievances against Recorder Justin Heap for notifying federal authorities about election work that took place late one night last week.
Heap’s office immediately contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after learning about a viral post about ballot tabulation center livestream footage in which two county employees were seen working alone after-hours in the facility from about 9 to 11 p.m. on October 7.
In the footage, the employees can be seen inserting flash drives into computers.
🚨BUSTED: Exclusive Video of Maricopa County BOS employees (toddler in tow) in highly secure Ballot Tabulation Center at 10:30pm inserting flash drives into computers (Post L&A) during an active election obtained by our source! Additional video obtained shows 3 hours of activity… pic.twitter.com/EqoOzQR9TY
— We the People USA Alliance (@WethePeopleAZA1) October 9, 2026
The FBI confirmed it investigated Heap’s complaint and found no evidence of wrongdoing.
A week later, on Wednesday, Board Chair Kate Brophy McGee and Vice Chair Debbie Lesko responded to the viral footage with a joint statement denying that the election workers had performed unauthorized work, and said that it wasn’t unusual for employees to work outside traditional business hours in the weeks preceding and following an election.
McGee and Lesko explained that the employees updated software on the ballot duplication system and uploaded election data files to a computer terminal not connected to the internet or ballot tabulation equipment.
After issuing that statement, Brophy McGee spoke with media outlets to criticize Heap for contacting federal authorities.
“Public employees who work in elections already face public threats and intimidation, but it is disgusting that Recorder Heap and his team would add to this climate of fear by referring to the FBI our hardworking county employees who were simply doing their jobs,” said Brophy McGee.
Judy Keane, Heap’s spokeswoman, said the recorder has a duty to request an investigation into any suspicious activity involving elections.
“Suspicious activity occurring within logic and accuracy tested facilities late at night should always be investigated by those with the power to do so. Any notion that it shouldn’t is irresponsible and fails to maintain the highest of standards for Arizona elections,” said Keane.
Supervisor Thomas Galvin called Heap “inept” for notifying authorities of his concerns, and accused him of being a “puppet” of Shelby Busch, the local grassroots activist with We the People AZ who contacted Heap’s office with concerns about the livestream footage. Lesko accused the recorder’s office of attacking “innocent election workers.” Galvin also implied there would be repercussions for those who assisted Heap with contacting the FBI.
“Heap worked w[ith] bad grifting hombres to target one of the BOS’ employees. If any other public official enabled Heap’s latest circus act then there’s Hell to pay,” said Galvin.
Sam Stone, Heap’s chief of staff, later posted on X to reveal that he called the FBI and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office about the after-hours work. Stone said that it was important for public trust in elections to seek an assessment from an official third party, rather than insisting the public rely on the county’s word.
“Did I think anything nefarious was at play in this situation? No,” said Stone. “[But] when questions about potentially fraudulent activity in an election come to light the proper reaction is not for the organization at hand to clear themselves, but to bring in an appropriate outside investigative agency to do it.”
Galvin called Stone “one of the amoral amoebas” within Heap’s office and accused him of “spinning [his] latest stunt.” Stone, in return, accused Galvin of lying.
“[Y]our ‘proof’ there was no wrongdoing in this case is the word of the same team that created the controversy,” said Stone. “You are a crap lawyer, a liar, and unfit for public office.”
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