On Wednesday, February 21, only a few days away, the first early voting process of the year will begin. It began for uniform and overseas (UOCAVA) voters on Monday when their ballots were sent out for the presidential preference election.
In preparation for this election, we should strive to be ballot ready.
The events of the last few years have tended to make many voters a bit gun shy and have given rise to some very poor advice by well-meaning but ill-informed individuals.
A prime example of this is the promotion by some of voting only in person on election day. As we saw during election day in 2022, that large influx of voters had two detrimental effects. First, it tended to overwhelm the system. Second, when some malfunctions occurred, they tended to have an unevenly-adverse effect on those who chose to vote only in person on election day.
It should be noted that avoiding mail-in voting has a very minor beneficial effect. There should be no question that the number one source of election mischief happens in mail-in voting. But it is not the kind of mischief that can be overcome by voting in person. The preponderance of opinions rendered during the last few years indicate that there is a low incidence of legitimate ballots being altered or not counted. The big problem is the counting of fraudulent ballots.
With that in mind, voters should feel comfortable using the mail, if that is their preference.
One advantage of early voting is that if problems occur, they may be addressed in time to make corrections before deadlines come into play. That can happen only if voters pay close attention.
In Maricopa County, both voter registration and ballot status may be checked HERE
Residents of other counties may check their ballot status HERE
To check on their registration status they should contact their individual counties.
It should be noted that recently there have been some encouraging developments in the quest for improvement in the way we conduct elections.
One such example is house bill HCR2028, introduced by representative Kolodin. This bill calls for a substantial change in the way ballot signatures are verified to reduce the probability of counting fraudulent ballots. It is currently making its way through the committee system.
Another example is the introduction, only a few hours ago, of bills HB2785 and SB1733. These are identical house and senate bills, introduced by Rep, Kolodin and
Sen. Rogers, respectively. They are aimed at correcting a time crunch that was created by previous legislation that will very likely expand the incidence of recounts of statewide elections.
As usual, at AZ Daily Independent, we will be watching and keeping you informed as events unfold.