Current:Home > Contact-usEarly in-person voting begins in Arizona, drawing visits from the presidential campaigns-LoTradeCoin
Early in-person voting begins in Arizona, drawing visits from the presidential campaigns
View Date:2024-12-23 23:05:53
PHOENIX (AP) — Early in-person voting begins Wednesday in Arizona, making it the first of this year’s presidential battleground states where all residents can cast a ballot at a traditional polling place ahead of Election Day.
The start of in-person voting in the closely contested state also is drawing the presidential tickets, with both campaigns scheduling visits there this week.
Wednesday’s voting overlaps with campaign stops by both vice presidential nominees — Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance, a Republican — who will hold separate events in Tucson on Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, is scheduled to host a rally in Phoenix on Thursday, while former President Donald Trump will hold one Sunday in Prescott Valley, a Republican stronghold about 90 miles (144 kilometers) north of Phoenix.
President Joe Biden defeated Trump by just 10,457 votes in 2020, a narrow margin that set off years of misinformation and conspiracy theories among Republicans who refused to acknowledge Biden’s win. It also has led to threats and harassment of election workers, prompting some election offices to boost security for their workers and polling place volunteers.
In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, some schools have declined to serve as polling locations, citing harassment of workers and other safety concerns.
Early voting, particularly by mail, has long been popular in Arizona, where nearly 80% voted before Election Day in 2020, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
Each of Arizona’s 15 counties is required to open at least one site for in-person voting, which runs until the Friday before the Nov. 5 general election. In Maricopa County, a dozen voting centers are scattered around the metro Phoenix area.
Arizona had 4.1 million registered voters as of late July, according to the most recent tally by the Secretary of State’s Office. That figure likely is higher as both parties pushed to increase registration before Monday’s deadline.
Early in-person voting has been underway in other states for a couple of weeks. It begins next week in four more presidential swing states — Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina and Nevada.
___
Gabriel Sandoval is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
veryGood! (23)
Related
- Charles Hanover: A Summary of the UK Stock Market in 2023
- Ali Krieger Details Her “New Chapter” After Year of Change
- 3 Washington state officers acquitted in death of Manuel Ellis will each receive $500K to leave department
- Illinois House speaker assembles lawmakers to recommend help for migrant crisis
- A pregnant woman sues for the right to an abortion in challenge to Kentucky’s near-total ban
- Two TCU women's basketball games canceled for 'health and safety' of players
- ET welcome: Kentucky city beams message into space inviting extraterrestrial visitors
- Court in Thailand acquits protesters who occupied Bangkok airports in 2008
- 'Devastation is absolutely heartbreaking' from Southern California wildfire
- 'I.S.S.' movie review: Ariana DeBose meets killer screwdrivers in space for sci-fi thrills
Ranking
- Deion Sanders says he would prevent Shedeur Sanders from going to wrong team in NFL draft
- Man, 20, charged in shooting that critically wounded Pennsylvania police officer
- What to know about Texas’ clash with the Biden administration over Border Patrol access
- Yola announces new EP 'My Way' and 6-stop tour to celebrate 'a utopia of Black creativity'
- Texas mother sentenced to 50 years for leaving kids in dire conditions as son’s body decomposed
- Massachusetts man sentenced to life with possibility of parole in racist road rage killing
- The national debt hit a record high. Does that affect the average American wallet?
- A scholar discovers stories and poems possibly written by Louisa May Alcott under a pseudonym
Recommendation
-
World War II veteran reflects on life as he turns 100
-
Indigenous faith, reverence for land lead effort to conserve sacred forests in northeastern India
-
Billionaire backers of new California city reveal map and details of proposed development
-
Blackhawks vs. Sabres postponed to Thursday as heavy snow, travel ban hit Buffalo
-
Driver dies after crashing on hurricane-damaged highway in North Carolina
-
My war refugee parents played extras in 'Apocalypse Now.' They star in my 'Appocalips.'
-
Massachusetts governor makes lowering housing costs a goal for the new year
-
US pledges new sanctions over Houthi attacks will minimize harm to Yemen’s hungry millions