Maricopa County officials are highlighting updated options for voters who receive ballots by mail as part of preparations for the 2026 election cycle.
In a recent post on X, the county directed voters to information outlining “more options for voters who receive their ballot in the mail,” including guidance on how and where to return ballots.
Arizona is a predominantly a vote-by-mail state, with the majority of voters participating through the Active Early Voting List (AEVL), which automatically sends ballots to registered voters ahead of elections. According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, early voting typically begins 27 days before an election.
A new state law taking effect in 2026 provides additional options for voters returning early ballots, including expanded in-person verification and tabulation procedures.
According to Maricopa County election officials in a recent video update, voters who bring a sealed early ballot in the required affidavit envelope to a Vote Center prior to Election Day may check in and provide identification, allowing the ballot to be processed without signature verification at the county’s central tabulation facility.
On Election Day, voters may also bring their early ballot to a Vote Center, check in, present identification, and have the ballot tabulated on-site using equipment designated for early ballots. County officials noted these tabulators are distinct from those used for ballots issued and cast in person on Election Day. Ballots tabulated at Vote Centers are included in Election Night results.
Voters may continue to return early ballots by mail or by depositing them in authorized drop boxes. Under Arizona law, early ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
Maricopa County elections are administered jointly by the Board of Supervisors and the Recorder’s Office, which oversees voter registration and early voting.
Ongoing disputes between the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Recorder’s Office over election administration responsibilities have resulted in litigation and disagreements regarding control over certain election functions since Recorder Justin Heap took office in January 2025.
Maricopa County Supervisor Debbie Lesko also addressed election administration in recent statements, emphasizing coordination between county offices responsible for conducting elections.
Speaking to KTAR News’ The Mike Broomhead Show on March 6, Lesko said, “We need to work together to run smooth elections, and what has transpired is frustrating, but we’re working it out between the Recorder’s Office and the Board of Supervisors.”
In a March ruling, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge denied a request from the Board of Supervisors to introduce testimony compelled from Heap, finding the board’s actions fell outside proper legal procedures and could interfere with ongoing proceedings.
The court also raised concerns about the board’s use of subpoenas and attempts to introduce evidence obtained outside the judicial process, while the broader legal dispute between the two offices remains unresolved.
Supervisor Mark Stewart, however, expressed optimism at the time, saying that the parties were nearing a resolution following the Court’s ruling.
“Regardless of the back-and-forth or expressed frustrations from the Recorder’s office and the Board Chair, we are making progress and working together. It may not be perfect, but it is happening,” Stewart said.
County officials have continued to provide voter education materials and updates as part of ongoing preparations for the 2026 election cycle.
Although X influencers said Musk’s comments were “breaking news,” the SpaceX CTO has advocated for in-person voting, along with ID requirements, for years.
“We should require government ID and in-person voting (unless valid medical/military/etc excuse), like other countries do or like if you want to buy beer,” said Musk in a comment over two years ago.
We should require government ID and in-person voting (unless valid medical/ military/etc excuse), like other countries do or like if you want to buy beer
In the summer of 2024, Musk also advocated against electronic and drop box ballots. Musk said additional voting methods beyond in-person voting created additional variables that made it much more difficult to detect fraud.
“When combined with mail-in ballots, the system is designed to make it impossible to prove fraud,” said Musk. “Mail-in and drop box ballots should not be allowed, as cameras on the in-person voting stations would at least prevent large-scale fraud by counting how many people showed up vs ballots cast.”
When combined with mail-in ballots, the system is *designed* to make it impossible to prove fraud.
Mail-in and drop box ballots should not be allowed, as cameras on the in-person voting stations would at least prevent large-scale fraud by counting how many people showed up vs…
Last week, Musk backed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, legislation to amend a gap in citizenship proof existing in the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The SAVE Act would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.
Proof of citizenship would include a REAL ID-compliant ID, a passport, military ID with proof of U.S. birth, government-issued photo ID card with proof of U.S. birth, or a government-issued photo ID along with a certified birth certificate, an extract from a U.S. hospital record of birth, a final adoption decree, a consular report of birth abroad, a naturalization certificate or certificate of citizenship, or an American Indian card.
“It must be done or democracy is dead,” said Musk.
Reps. Eli Crane and Paul Gosar also support the legislation. The pair signed onto a letter urging the Senate to act on the legislation.
Although Musk departed DOGE over certain policy agreements earlier last year, he does agree with President Donald Trump on mail-in voting.
“No mail-in ballots (except for illness, disability, military, or travel),” posted Trump to Truth Social.
Trump had made his criticism of mail-in ballots during public conversations urging the passage of the SAVE Act, though the legislation doesn’t ban mail-in voting. Instead, the legislation would require mail voters to submit an application to receive their ballot.
The president has also issued another call to action not included in the SAVE Act: federalizing elections.
Last Monday the president said in an interview that the federal government should take over elections from the states. He proposed the takeover during the debut of former FBI director Dan Bongino’s newly resurrected podcast. Bongino will also return to his role as a Fox News contributor.
“We should take over the voting in at least many places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” said Trump. “We have states that are so crooked and they’re counting votes.”
AZ Free News is your #1 source for Arizona news and politics. You can send us news tips using this link.
Another election has come and gone, and unsurprisingly, Arizona is yet again the butt of national jokes for taking weeks to process ballots and tabulate votes. While some in the corporate media still attempt to defend our vote counting circus, most everyone is in agreement that big changes are needed. It doesn’t take being an election expert to recognize that states with far greater populations, who also experience large rates of early voting, somehow get their votes counted on election night or near to it.
It’s a fix that is long overdue, yet for over five years the reform has continued to run into a political meatgrinder at the state Capitol. Since 2019, our organization, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, has supported, championed, and authored bills to ensure we get results on election night. And while Democrats in the legislature have been an obstacle to reform (they have universally opposed any reforms geared toward getting faster results), they have not been the only impediment to fixing the problem.
The real culprit is opposition from county “election officials,” or more precisely, their taxpayer-funded lobbyists. For years, our so-called election experts have worked overtime to stop any reasonable reforms to Arizona’s mail-in voting system. Their tactics are incredibly disingenuous. When people express their frustration about the glacier pace of vote counting, they clap back (usually with dripping condescension) that their hands are tied by existing law. But when lawmakers introduce bills to change those laws, those same election officials send their army of lobbyists down to the Capitol to fight reform at every turn…
The office of Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly has become the center of the latest election controversy in Arizona. On October 19th, the county’s online portal to request vote-by-mail ballots was shut down when voting officials claimed the site was overwhelmed with the quantity of requests. The shutdown occurred a week prior to the Oct. 25th deadline.
According to the Tucson Sentinel, as an alternative, the county office posted a notice at the top of the disabled form page instructing voters to call-in to the office in order to request a mail-in ballot.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Senator Wadsack Launches Investigation into Pima County Recorder's Office Following Apparent Elections Violations
Arizona Senator Justine Wadsack announced Wednesday that she is launching an investigation into the allegations against Cázares-Kelly’s office “following potential violations which may have suppressed thousands of Southern Arizona voters.”
“I was truly shocked to learn our County Recorder’s Office had done this,” Senator Wadsack said in a statement. “These actions are absolutely unacceptable, undermine the integrity of our elections, and raise serious questions regarding voter suppression. This has affected my current constituents and my community, and I want to make sure their votes are protected as well as votes for all candidates involved. I’m here to make sure there’s accountability for the laws that appear to have been broken. My message to voters is to get out today and vote in person to ensure your vote is not suppressed.”
In a letter of inquiry sent to the County Recorder, Wadsack wrote, “You certainly know that, under Arizona law, ‘an elector may make a verbal or signed request to the county recorder’ for an early ballot. Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(A) (emphasis added). Further, your office must mail voters the early ballot ‘within forty-eight hours after receipt of the request.’ Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 16-542(D). It appears clear that your office violated both requirements.”
Arizona Reps. Rachel Jones and Cory McGarr issued a similar inquiry on Oct. 24th to Cázares-Kelly following allegations that the Recorder’s office, on receipt of undeliverable ballots or those returned due to an outdated address, sent notice that the voters mailed ballot was “received,” creating confusion.
We’re still waiting for answers to the questions asked in our below letter. Received an email yesterday that says they’ll get us those answers asap.
Is asap going to conveniently be November 6th? Maybe never? Why is the Pima County Recorder’s office not already following the… pic.twitter.com/mAcmfUfhZP
Per the Sentinel, Cázares-Kelly’s office sent alerts to approximately 4,000 voters in a mass email to notify them that their requests for a mail-in-ballot were canceled and instructed them to contact the office by phone to request a ballot, citing Marion Chubon, chief deputy to the Pima County Recorder, who ordered the shutdown. Chubon told reporters that the office didn’t inform the press as they “didn’t think it was a story.”
Chubon, responding to the outlet, explained that although the state law requiring ballots be sent within 48 hours of a request (as referred to by Sen. Wadsack), “was a consideration, obviously, and we weren’t going to fulfill those requests in that time. So we chose the more effective option – bottom line, getting those people their ballots that they needed.” However, the state law doesn’t allow for the County Recorder to make such a determination and cast aside requests that have already been submitted.
Subsequently, over 3,000 phone calls were fielded by the office on Oct. 21st and some 1,858 new requests were processed. Between that Monday and Friday another 2,829 requests were handled to the tune of approximately one every four minutes. Chubon told the outlet that she was confident that most of the voters whose requests were thrown out had received one. However she noted that, “We can’t guarantee that every single person called us to get a ballot, but we’re pretty confident that the majority of those were second requests… and those who didn’t fit into that category may have had a hold on their record and wouldn’t have gotten a ballot.”
“We just didn’t think it was a story,” Chubon added. “We were literally just trying to meet our statutory obligations and serve the voters. Like I said, over the weekend, we were processing unprecedented amounts of ballots. We have staff working 12-hour days, seven days a week, including the recorder and myself. We’re all working every day. It was just, ‘Let’s get these people their ballots.’ That was our focus. We would never, intentionally, not try to alert the media.”
Early voting has officially commenced across the crucial swing state of Arizona.
Arizona political parties are encouraging their voters to cast their ballots as early as possible as the pivotal election in November nears.
The Arizona Democratic Party posted, “ARIZONA: Early voting begins today & your mail-in ballot should arrive soon. We have so much at stake this election – from the presidency to flipping our Republican-controlled state legislature. Make a plan to vote…”
ARIZONA: Early voting begins today & your mail-in ballot should arrive soon.
We have so much at stake this election– from the presidency to flipping our Republican-controlled state legislature.
The Republican Party of Arizona stated, “Early Voting starts TODAY! Don’t wait – cast your vote early for President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot. Check the status of your ballot and find a vote center near you at Arizona.Vote! EVERY. VOTE. COUNTS.”
Early Voting starts TODAY!
Don’t wait – cast your vote early for President Trump and Republicans up and down the ballot.
The AZGOP also shared a video clip from a recent speech from Chair Gina Swoboda, where she encouraged listeners to vote by mail to avoid any potential issues at the polling locations.
Early voting starts when? TOMORROW!
And you know what doesn’t jam? Your ballot in a signed affidavit envelope, sealed and dropped off early!
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes also promoted the start of early voting in his state, encouraging interested individuals to visit Arizona.Vote “for all your Arizona election needs.”
In the Republican stronghold of Yavapai County, the Recorder there highlighted the beginning of early voting and shared a website for local voters to find locations and time to cast their ballots over the next month.
Additionally, the Pima County Recorder’s Office posted information about early voting in this southern Arizona jurisdiction, including for the 19 early voting sites under its purview.
Early Voting has begun for the November 5 General Election. You can vote in person and Early Ballots have started to be mailed out! You have until 7 pm on Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, to return your ballot. Swipe for more info 📷 pic.twitter.com/0m2DXZf24V
— Pima County Recorder's Office (@PimaRecorder) October 9, 2024
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
