Unofficial Pima County results in today’s Congressional District 8 special election will begin to be posted on the Pima County Elections Department website –  http://www.pima.gov/elections/results.htm – by or about 8:20 p.m., said Director Brad Nelson.

The official winner of the election may not be known for days.

Over the past several weeks, over 125,000 early ballots have been received, verified and counted in Pima County.  State law prohibits the release of the votes on those early ballots until one hour after the polls close at 7 p.m.

At 8 p.m. Elections Department personnel, under observation of the political parties, will begin the process of generating the reports that reflect the unofficial election results.

The generation of those reports usually takes about 10 minutes, Nelson said.  Thereafter, the Pima County web page and the state web page, accessible through the Pima County web page, are updated.  Given the amount of time needed to generate the reports and update the state and county web pages, it is anticipated that the first election results will be reflected on the web by or about 8:20 p.m., Nelson said.

Congressional District 8 includes parts of Pima, Pinal, Cochise and Santa Cruz counties.  About 337,000 Pima County residents are eligible to vote in today’s special election.

About 190,000 early ballots were sent out in Pima County.  That means up to 65,000 early ballots could be submitted today.  Early ballots turned in today must be verified by the Pima County Recorder’s Office and then counted, Nelson said.

Voters who have not mailed in their ballots must take them to any polling place by 7 p.m. today if they want their votes to count in this election.  It is too late to mail in early ballots.

Pima County voters can find out whether they are eligible to vote in this special election and where their polling place is by calling the Recorder’s Office at 520-724-4330.

In 2010, the election in Congressional District 8 was so close that conclusive but unofficial results were not known until Friday after Election Day, and final, official results were not available until Nov. 10.

The public is invited to attend the dedication ceremony for the Gabe Zimmerman Davidson Canyon Trailhead at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4.

The trailhead is north of Interstate 10 on Marsh Station Road, about ¼ mile west of Cienega Creek.  Because parking at the trailhead site is limited, please carpool, park next to the Cienega Creek ¼ mile to the east of the trailhead and take the shuttle that’s provided, or you can park at the Rincon Valley Fire Department 2.5 miles west along Marsh Station Road and take the shuttle that is provided.

Zimmerman, a 30-year-old aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was killed along with five others in the Jan. 8 attack in Tucson that injured Giffords and a dozen others.

The Pima County Board of Supervisors renamed the Davidson Canyon trailhead in February at the request of The Arizona Trail Association, of which Zimmerman was a member and his mother, Emily Nottingham, is president.

Zimmerman, a Tucson native who was an avid hiker and runner, helped obtain the National Scenic Trail designation for the Arizona Trail, an 817-mile path from Mexico to Utah that was completed this month and that connects to the Davidson Canyon trail.

The Arizona Trail Association has been working to add signs, a ramada with tables, wheelchair-accessible paths and tribute areas for Zimmerman and the other Jan. 8 victims at the trailhead, which is in Pima County’s Cienega Creek Natural Preserve.

In addition to the trail association, Pima County Supervisor Raymond J. Carroll, District 4, and the Pima County Regional Flood Control District and the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department are hosting the dedication ceremony.

For more information about The Arizona Trail Association, go to http://www.aztrail.org/.