New Maricopa County option may speed up early-ballot count

Adobe Stock

Tell Us What You Think

Tell Us What You Think

Readers are invited to write us at yourvalley.net/letters or AzOpinions@iniusa.org to share your thoughts on early ballots in Maricopa County. Please limit your letter to 300 words or less, and include your name, city and contact number in your email.

We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines, which can be found at yourvalley.net/civility-checklist.

OPINION — Many Arizona voters may not realize that Maricopa County has introduced a new option for returning early mail ballots that could significantly speed up the counting process.

If you receive an early ballot by mail, you can still return it by mail or at a secure drop box. However, beginning this election, you also have the option of taking your sealed ballot to a Vote Center, presenting a valid photo ID and having your identity verified onsite.

Before Election Day, a poll worker will verify your ID, stamp your sealed ballot envelope and place it in the secure ballot box. Because your identity has already been verified, election officials won’t need to perform the usual signature verification later, allowing your ballot to move directly into tabulation after it reaches election headquarters.

On Election Day, voters who choose this option can go one step further. After checking in with photo ID, they may remove their ballot from the affidavit envelope, deposit the envelope in a collection box and feed the ballot directly into a tabulator designed for early ballots. Their vote is counted along with all other Election Day ballots, eliminating the wait associated with post-election signature verification.

This new process is entirely optional, but it offers another secure way for voters who are willing to show ID in person to have their early ballots processed more quickly.

The official details are available from the Maricopa County Elections Department: New Voting Options for 2026.

General information about Arizona early voting is also available from the Arizona Secretary of State Early Voting page.

Annarose Lilly is chair of Arizona LD 28 Democrats. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.