TUCON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Pima County officials are estimating they have approximately 30,000 ballots left waiting to be counted following the Tuesday, August 2 primary.
Initial estimates show that out of a total of 159,454 ballots cast in the Tuesday election, which the county reports is about a 25% voter turnout.
There remains a number of ballots yet to be processed, verified and counted:
- about 22,000 early and other ballots
- about 4,200 provisional ballots
- about 3,100 ballots that were cast at Voting Centers on Election Day
The Recorder’s Office turns over verified ballots in batches of roughly 5,000 at a time to the Elections Department.
The Elections Department is overseeing the remaining Vote Center ballots.
“We had some Vote Centers where the checked-in voters tally didn’t match the number of ballots, and I needed to talk to the Vote Center inspectors to understand why," said Elections Director Constance Hargrove. "The Deputy Elections Director spoke to them today, and we will count those ballots."
"In addition, one Vote Center had a printer problem that prevented the scanner from reading the ballot. These ballots require duplication. I anticipate counting all the votes cast at Vote Centers by the end of today," said Hargrove on Wednesday, August 3.
Provisional ballots filled out on Election Day were issued to voters who were sent mail-in ballots, but had a change of address or another update to their voter registration. The Recorder's Office processes these ballots with voter data from the Elections Department to ensure that voters do not vote twice.
The Elections Department and Recorder's Office may change the estimated number of uncounted ballots as they work through the remaining ballots and follow steps to ensure each vote is counted.
The deadline to complete counting is Monday, August 15.
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Anne Simmons is the digital executive producer for KGUN 9. Anne got her start in television while still a student at the University of Arizona. Before joining KGUN, she managed multiple public access television stations in the Bay Area and has worked as a video producer in the non-profit sector. Share your story ideas and important issues with Anne by emailing anne.simmons@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.
