Maricopa County counted ballots faster thanks to a new state law, leaders said at a review of the July 21 primary results.
In fact, the county said it posted more than 99% of election results just 24 hours after Primary Day.
“That’s the fastest we've ever done,” Maricopa County Supervisor Debbie Lesko, a Republican, said at an Aug. 3 meeting to approve the canvass of the primary election results.
Maricopa County is one of the biggest swing counties in the nation, home to 2.6 million registered voters around metro Phoenix.
The county has been at the center of the election denialism movement, in part because slow election results allowed critics to cast doubt on the system.
In an effort to get election results faster, state lawmakers passed a law in
2024 to speed up the tabulation of certain ballots known for slowing down the count.
Some 23,400 voters used the new option, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department.
What changed in the 2026 primary election?
The majority of Arizona voters cast their ballots by mail. That includes voters who bring their mail ballots to vote centers on Election Day.
The so-called late early ballots can slow down the vote counting process because election workers must take time to verify each voter’s signature on their green ballot envelope before it can be counted.
To speed up the process, the new law allows voters to bypass the signature verification by showing ID and having their mail-in ballots counted on site at vote centers.
“They showed their ID, took their ballot out of the green envelope, and tabulated it right there on site, which speeds up election results,” Lesko said.
How much faster did results come in?
Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett said the new system made a measurable difference.
“If those 23,000 had not taken advantage of this, most likely, we would have been then posting results on that Thursday morning instead of the final result on Thursday,” Maricopa County Elections Director Scott Jarrett said. “That made a significant difference, that percentage.”
Final results were posted six days after Primary Day, which the county said was tied for its fastest-ever result. On average, Maricopa County posts final results eight days after an election.
County Recorder Justin Heap, who oversees signature verification in the county’s bifurcated election system, also praised the new law.
“Most people would rather have things ID-verified than go through signature verification. As good as we can make that system, it does instill a lot of confidence and support, I think, from the voters,” Heap said.
Will the new process work in the Nov. 3 general election?
The next test of the new process will come this fall, when Maricopa County officials expect much higher turnout. More eyes will be on Arizona as voters decide the consequential race for governor, a swing congressional seat in Scottsdale and a number of other high-stakes races.
Voter turnout in Maricopa County was 26.7% in the July 21 primary, the lowest in years.
About 25% of the early voters who dropped off their ballots on Primary Day opted to show ID and have their ballot counted on-site, Jarrett said.
He’s watching to see whether a similar percentage of voters use the new system in November.
If they do, “that's probably shaving off at least a day of when we get to that 99%” of reported results, Jarrett said.
Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. She co-hosts “The Gaggle,” The Republic’s weekly politics podcast. Reach her at stephanie.murray@usatodayco.com, on X and TikTok @stephanie_murr and on Instagram @stephaniemurray.news.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa County says new ballot option sped up election results
