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350,000 AZ votes uncounted: It’s not over ’til it’s over

by on Nov. 03, 2010, under 2010 elections, Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, Jesse Kelly, John C. Scott, medical marijuana, Raul Grijalva, Ruth McClung, Tucson

According to the map on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website, all of Arizona’s counties have reported their election results from yesterday’s midterm election.

In actuality, Secretary of State Ken Bennett today announced that there are 350,000 early and provisional ballots yet to be counted statewide. Earlier in the day, it appeared as if the Pima County Recorder’s office was the only laggard– with 35,000 early and provisional votes uncounted– but not so, Pima has only 10% of the uncounted ballots.

Why have so many votes not been tallied? Arizona law allows voters to received paper ballots in the mail. They can be dropped in the US Mail for approximately a month, but when voters procrastinate and get too close to the election day, they must deliver their mail-in ballots at any polling place by 7 p.m. on election day.

According to Bennett (who was interviewed on the John C. Scott Show today on The Jolt, 1330AM), approximately 250,000 mail-in ballots were delivered to polling places on election day, and another 80,000+ provisional ballots were issued at the polling places. (A voter is given a provisional ballot for multiple reasons; for example, their address on record doesn’t match their address on the identification or records show they got a mailed ballot.)

According to Bennett, counties have until 10 days after the election to submit their final totals.

So what? Well, there are several races that are very close– most notably Raul Grijalva vs Ruth McClung, Gabrielle Giffords vs Jesse Kelly, Prop 203 (medical marijuana), Prop 110 (state lands trust) and Prop 112 (changing petition deadlines).  Grijalva and Giffords are currently winning by fewer than 5,000 votes, and all three propositions are currently losing by less than 1%.

It ain’t over, folks.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010 at 6:43 pm and is filed under 2010 elections, Arizona, Gabrielle Giffords, Jesse Kelly, John C. Scott, medical marijuana, Raul Grijalva, Ruth McClung, Tucson. Tags for this post: , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • RuthsFriend

    Come on 203…win baby, win!!

  • RightWinger

    As a fiscal conservative I can only hope that eventually the electorate will realize that the demonization of a plant does not work on any level.
    Industrial hemp could provide tons of new jobs and exports across the world. Recreational drug use is a billion dollar industry where currently the only people making money are drug dealers and drug cartels.
    Just think of it this way, if your INSERT RELATIONSHIP HERE (Son, Daughher, Niece, Nephew, etc) were to get caught with a small amount of marijuana (Be honest, at least 50%+ of the country has tried it so chances are EXTREMELY good one of those people in your life, or more likely many of those people in your life have also used marijuana) would you think it was fair for them to be charged with a felony?
    Would it seem rational to you for them to never be allowed to vote? To own a handgun? To run for political office? To be turned down from good jobs? — How crazy are we?
    We ruin people’s lives because they choose to use a recreational drug that has been around for thousands of years and more than likely you yourself have at least tried. We need to consider whether or not the penalties for smoking marijuana equate to the damage the crime itself causes.
    Back to the economics, the government spends BILLIONS of dollars every year locking people up for marijuana-related crimes. In addition, billions more are spent on police, attorneys, court costs, etc to fight marijuana. This is government waste at its finest.
    By legalizing marijuana we will immediately save BILLIONS of dollars each year so that we can lower taxes, and additionally tax revenues from marijuana sales would be in the billions…again saving you the taxpayer money.
    Let’s get one thing straight. Marijuana is readily available all over this country and anyone who wishes to smoke pot can smoke pot today. Studies have shown that middle-school children can get marijuana easier than they can get alcohol or tobacco.
    If we are worried about the kids then LOCK UP YOUR PRESCRIPTION PILLS!!!
    Let’s let FREEDOM RING and legalize weed…let stoners be stoners and the real criminals can be the inmates.

  • Sean

    Finally a news article regarding the final tally that is using facts, instead of riding the wave of news reports claiming victories for candidates and defeats of propositions that are far too close to call prematurely.

  • tiponeill

    Personally I would just like to give a big warm thank you to Steve Stoltz – another brilliant Arizona voter :)

  • Jeuse

    LETS GO 203!!

  • cochisecitizen

    Felecia Rotellini hasn’t conceded the AG race yet. She’s trailing by 65k votes, but with 350k votes not counted (AZ Star says it’s 374k), it’s possible she could still pull it out.

    • Pamela Powers

      Yes, I don’t think anyone should concede.
       
      Bennett said “in the neighborhood of 350,000.”  The Dems really chased those unmailed paper ballots with phone calls and walkers. I guess this is the result. Get busy, Ken!

      • cochisecitizen

        Yes, I had two follow calls, one from AZ Dem & another from Cochise County Dems, making sure I’d turned mine in. Then a robocall from Rep. Giffords on election day telling me if I hadn’t mailed it in it was too late and to take it to a polling place. She stressed that the election was very close. I mailed mine back in the Tuesday after Columbus Day, and then since it was the first time I’d voted by mail-in, I called the Cochise Recorder’s Office to make sure it had been accepted. They were happy to check and tell me it had.
         
        I think it’s clear the election facilities were not prepared for the deluge of early ballots turned in on election day. They can verify the signatures in a timely manner when they trickle in during the weeks leading up to election day, but it creates a huge backlog to check this many handed in on election day. I’m sure there are many with legit reasons for turning it in on election day (forgot, out of town, etc.), but I suspect many are just using early ballots as an excuse to avoid lines & wait times at the polls and just drop it off. I’d suggest they change this: those turning in early ballots in person on election day need to wait in line with the other voters. Then their ID & voter registration is checked, which eliminates the need for the Recorder’s office to verify the signature. Then instead of a voting booth they’re just directed to the machine so their ballot can be scanned along with everyone else’s voting that day. That would avoid this huge mess.

  • dollarshort

    Keep counting until the person you want wins.

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The Tucson Progressive

Pamela Powers Hannley writes the Tucson Progressive blog on the TucsonCitizen.com and contributes articles to the Huffington Post and Salon.com. She has had more than 30 years of experience in written, visual, and electronic communication—including freelance writing, photography, graphic design, and consulting. In addition to blogging for the Citizen, she is the Managing Editor of an international medical research journal.

Hannley has authored medical research articles, print magazine and newspaper stories, and numerous cancer prevention and self-help publications.

She has been a blogger since 2006, joined the ranks of Tucson Citizen bloggers in October 2010, and started contributing to the Huffington Post in 2011 and to Salon.com in 2012.

Hannley holds a masters’ degree in public health from The University of Arizona and a bachelors’ degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a native of Amherst, Ohio but has lived in Tucson since 1981.