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    • When will Arizona voters see the election results? What you need to know
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    When will Arizona voters see the election results? What you need to know

    Vaseline Posted on

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    Arizona voters can expect the first set of general election results about an hour after the polls close Tuesday, with more to come throughout the night.

    But full results will likely take days. State law gives county election officials about two weeks to complete the count.

    All provinces are expected to announce the first set of results around 8 p.m. This round will include the results of early voting ballots cast in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The vast majority of Arizona voters voted early, so this will represent a significant portion of the outcome.

    From there, election workers in counties across the state expect to count votes cast in person on Tuesday and release them intermittently Tuesday evening.

    The next day, counties will begin verifying signatures and counting last-minute early ballots, as well as any ballots that require additional scrutiny. For example, a person who shows up to vote without acceptable identification may cast a vote, but it will not be counted unless the voter returns within five days with proper identification.

    That process can take several days. The more early ballots received at the last minute, the longer it may take to count votes and determine a close race. Officials in populous Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, currently estimate it will take 10 to 13 days to complete the count.

    Here’s what you need to know about the counting process and when to expect results.

    How does counting work?

    Early ballots cast in the weeks leading up to Election Day will be counted first.

    State law allows election workers to process votes after accuracy tests are conducted on tabulation equipment that certifies the machines. Those tests took place last month, just before voters began receiving and returning early ballots. The counting has continued since then.

    As of Thursday, election workers in Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, had received about 1.3 million early ballots. As of Friday, the Pima County Recorder’s Office had sent approximately 280,500 early ballots to election staff to be counted. These ballots will likely be included in the first round of county results after the polls close.

    On election night, employees will tabulate the ballots of in-person voters at the polls. Some counties are geographically large, so polls in the furthest reaches of each region may take a few hours to produce results. Additionally, recent elections suggest that a new state law intended to expedite the full unofficial results could delay the release of election night results.

    Staffers in Coconino County, the largest in the state by land mass, typically work until early Wednesday morning to release poll results.

    In the days following the election, workers will process and count early ballots submitted immediately before and on Election Day. New results are usually posted every day.

    Finally, election staff will process ballots that require further review. They will examine provisional ballots, which are used when there is uncertainty about a voter’s eligibility. They will ask voters to bring photo ID to process conditional provisional ballots, which are used when a voter forgets to bring ID to the polls. They will also contact voters to “cure” or verify any questionable early voting signatures.

    State law gives voters five days to respond to questions from election officials.

    When will the results become official?

    Election night results are unofficial.

    Once all votes are counted, counties across the state will either collate them or officially report the results to the state. The Arizona Secretary of State’s office then conducts its own certification.

    This year, the provinces must complete their research by November 21. The state investigation is scheduled for November 25. The results will be official once it is completed.

    Election 2024: See Arizona election results | Live coverage throughout election day

    When are races called?

    Media outlets and political pundits do not have to wait for results to become official before a race can be called, but a candidate must have a large enough margin that outstanding votes are extremely unlikely to change the outcome of the contest. That means races with large vote differences can often be called on election night before the full results are known.

    Arizona races increasingly have tight margins and take longer to call.

    What happens when recounts take place?

    State lawmakers recently expanded the threshold to trigger an automatic recount. Under the new law, which came into effect in 2022, the margin went from one-tenth of a percentage point to half a percentage point.

    A recount really means a complete recount. If a contest falls within the recount margin, election workers will have to completely retest their county’s tabulations, rewatch the race and repeat an audit of a statistically significant number of ballots.

    That all happens after county officials certify election results, so recounts may not be completed until a few weeks after Election Day. Any recount results will ultimately be unsealed by a judge in court.

    What happens if there are election challenges?

    Candidates have five days after the state canvass to file election challenges in court. All challenges must be submitted by December 2nd.

    State law sets expedited deadlines for courts to hear cases challenging election results. The state’s highest court also recently issued an administrative order directing judges to prioritize post-election cases this year.

    The court specifically set a December 6 deadline for superior court judges, who work at the provincial level, to hear cases involving presidential electors.

    That deadline leaves a window of five days before government officials must send presidential results to the U.S. Congress, and 11 days before voters meet to confirm who has won the presidential race. Congress will meet later to count the votes on January 6, 2025.

    Sasha Hupka is responsible for the county government and elections board for the Arizona Republic. Reach her out [email protected]. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps. Sign up for her weekly election newsletter, Republic recount.

    Vaseline
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