Voters in more than half of Maricopa County's school districts will not cast ballots for school board this fall because the races were canceled before Election Day.
The cancellations in 31 different districts mean many school board seats will be decided without voters casting a ballot.
In most cases, candidates who faced no opposition in their races will automatically be appointed to office by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors before the new terms begin in January 2027. For the districts with races where there were too few candidates, Maricopa County School Superintendent Shelli Boggs will appoint the school board members, according to Boggs' spokesperson Annabella Gomez.
The districts with canceled elections are:
- Aguila Elementary School District
- Alhambra Elementary School District
- Arlington Elementary School District
- Avondale Elementary School District
- Balsz Elementary School District
- Buckeye Elementary School District
- Chandler Unified School District
- Creighton Elementary School District
- East Valley Institute of Technology Districts 1, 4, 5 and 9
- Fountain Hills Unified School District
- Gila Bend Unified School District
- Gilbert Unified School District
- Glendale Elementary School District
- Laveen Elementary School District
- Litchfield Elementary School District
- Madison Elementary School District
- Mobile Elementary School District
- Morristown Elementary School District
- Murphy Elementary School District
- Nadaburg Unified School District
- Palo Verde Elementary School District
- Paloma Elementary School District
- Pendergast Elementary School District
- Phoenix Union High School District Wards 1 and 5
- Riverside Elementary School District
- Sentinel Elementary School District
- Tempe Union High School District
- Washington Elementary School District
- West-MEC Districts 1, 2 and 7
- Wickenburg Unified School District
- Wilson Elementary School District
But in several districts,
no candidates filed at all. That leaves Boggs responsible for appointing board members.
Districts with no school board candidates include Gila Bend Unified, Morristown Elementary and Sentinel Elementary. Gila Bend Unified has four vacancies, while Morristown Elementary and Sentinel Elementary have two vacancies each.
Districts with some candidates — but not enough to fill all of the open spots — include Murphy Elementary, Palo Verde Elementary and Paloma Elementary.
Murphy Elementary has two open seats with one registered candidate, meaning the candidate will be appointed, and Boggs will have to find someone to appoint to the other open seat. Palo Verde Elementary has one candidate and three open seats, while Paloma Elementary has one candidate and two open seats.
There are 58 school districts in Maricopa County. School board elections are held every two years.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: More than half of Maricopa County school board races won't be held
