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    • Have they called Arizona yet? How to speed up election results
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    Have they called Arizona yet? How to speed up election results

    Umito Posted on

    It’s frustrating and ridiculous that we still don’t know whether Arizona sent Kari Lake or Ruben Gallego to the Senate. Here’s how to fix it.

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    It’s Friday morning. Do you know who is your new US senatorArizona?

    Of course not.

    After all, this is Arizona where you can go online to order a portable blanket that looks like a shark after dinner and find it outside your door before breakfast. (Although I don’t recommend it. It’s not a good overview.)

    But ordering the election results?

    You could grow a beard while you wait to find out who won. And I’m not just talking about men.

    This is why they haven’t called Arizona yet

    While the rest of the country moves forward, we in Arizona are stuck in an election night distortion. Waiting to see if we sent Ruben Gallego or Kari Lake to Washington.

    Maybe we’ll know by the weekend. Or next week.

    Maricopa County elections officials said it would take 10 to 13 days to finish counting the votes.

    It’s embarrassing. It’s frustrating. It’s ridiculous. And worst of all, it pisses off conspiracy believers, certain that there is a plot afoot to steal Arizona’s vote.

    Don’t blame Maricopa County (Republican-run). From what I saw, the Board of Supervisors ran a remarkably smooth election.

    No printer failure. No four-hour wait. No major problems.

    A swarm of early ballots arrived late

    Except, however, that the county was flooded with early votes dropped off at polling stations on Tuesday – 225,000 of them.

    These are ballots that the county could not, by laweven began to be processed through Wednesday — with hundreds of thousands of additional early ballots cast late last week and over the weekend.

    Me? I think it is time to put early elections back on the agenda. If you want to vote on Election Day, go vote the old-fashioned way: in person.

    Senate President Warren Petersen agrees.

    “This will probably be the first bill I file,” Petersen, R-Gilbert, told me Thursday.

    Petersen is proposing that the state stop early ballot filings several days before the election, as is done in Florida and some other states.

    The President of the Senate wants to resolve this problem. Leave it

    Specifically, he’s considering a deadline of 5 p.m. Friday, with early voting centers then open throughout the weekend and Monday for those who want to vote in person.

    Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer suggested something similar in 2023. Petersen included it in an election bill earlier this year, but it went nowhere.

    Democrats were concerned about taking away options for voters, and some Republicans were more interested in killing the state’s wildly popular early voting program than fixing it.

    Notice: The plan to overthrow Parliament looks like a failure

    “It was close, but we didn’t find consensus and, frankly, I think we experienced some pushback from some counties,” Petersen said.

    Counties…please…don’t push back anymore.

    And you, legislators. Come on. Early voting means voting early.

    This should be Election Day, not Election Week

    If you want to vote at the polls, vote at the polls.

    But it’s simply not realistic that nearly a quarter of a million people can vote early on Election Day and then expect to find out who won a close race on Election Night.

    In a swing state, no less.

    While the world watches (and, I guess, wonders what’s wrong with Arizona).

    Fix it in January, please, Arizona lawmakers.

    No one should be disenfranchised, but early should mean just that.

    Our long national nightmare that is election week must end.

    Contact Roberts at [email protected]. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRobertsaz and on the discussions at @LaurieRobertsaz.

    Subscribe to azcentral.com Today.

    Umito
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