Maricopa.org
By Rob O’Dell | Arizona Republic
Ballots returned during the first week of early voting in Arizona surged nearly 100% in the state’s three most-populous counties compared to 2018, with trends appearing to favor Democratic candidates, data obtained by The Arizona Republic shows.
Early voting surged 92% in Pima County from 2018, and 88% in Pinal County, according to county recorder offices’ data on the first week of ballot returns. Compared with the last presidential election, in 2016, Pima’s numbers rose 56%, while Pinal’s early vote totals jumped 132%.
In Maricopa County, ballots processed by the Recorder’s Office increased 116% in the first week of early voting compared with 2018 and 96% compared with 2016. Processed ballots have been returned and verified to have come from the right voter. The second week of ballot processing shows similar increases, according to the Recorder’s Office.
