Pinal County Elections Department accepted more than 27,000 early ballots during the first week of early voting ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.
Pinal County Elections Director James Heiman reported that of the 27,157 ballots received, 13,364 of them were from Republicans, 8,035 were Democratic voters and 5,590 were “no party designated.”
The remaining 168 ballots came from Libertarian, No Labels and Green Party voters.
While historical data for the first week of early voting in Pinal County does not exist, top elections officials say this year’s early voter turnout so far is high.
The first week of early voting, which has just ended, was a mere sampling of the 314,145 registered voters in Pinal County who have the privilege of casting their ballots by Election Day. The county has a population of about 426,000.
In the county board of supervisors races for five seats, 4,530 ballots were returned for District 1, which contains the city of Maricopa and surrounding communities like Thunderbird Farms and Hidden Valley.
It had the lowest early voting turnout so far after District 2, which saw 4,501 votes. Other districts saw nearly 7,000 early ballots cast.
Pinal County Recorder Dana Lewis told InMaricopa today Pinal’s mail-in ballot count was on par with early voting in the rest of the state.
Lewis was “absolutely optimistic about the returns that we’re receiving for early ballots at this time,” she said Friday at her office.
She said she agrees with political parties who are urging voters to vote early and by mail.
It’s not too late to obtain and cast a ballot by mail. To request a one-time ballot by mail, contact the Elections Department at 520-509-3555 by Oct. 25.
Visit Pinal.gov/PinalVotes for more information.
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