'No choice': With presidential nominees decided, Arizona election day turnout shrinks

Not many Arizonans turned out for the state's presidential preference races, but those who did saw few lines and a relatively smooth election day statewide.

A printer out of ink in Prescott, missing keys for a Navajo Nation polling site and poll workers playing hooky in the Valley were among the biggest problems on Tuesday. That stands in stark contrast to the state's last major election in 2022, which saw widespread printer problems in Maricopa County, tallying woes in Pinal County and technical glitches in Pima County.

The near-perfect election day bodes well for the upcoming state primary and general elections. Many counties saw Tuesday's presidential preference election and other recent small elections as a test run for those larger events, which will be headlined by the races for the White House and U.S. Senate.

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But this election saw fewer voters than initially expected and far lower in-person turnout than what is anticipated in the July and November elections.

In Maricopa County, the state's most populous, only about 30,000 voters cast ballots at the polls on Tuesday. That's well under the more than 100,000 election officials there had projected.

The lack of lines countywide was noted by voters. Perri Raygor, who voted at Burton Barr Library in Phoenix, attributed the low turnout to the lack of competition in the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have already clinched their parties' nominations. Raygor said she felt as though there was "no choice" in either race.

"It just sucks that we didn’t have a better candidate,” Raygor said. “I’m Republican, but the Republican Party sucks right now. The Democratic Party is even worse."

In northern Arizona, Yavapai County Recorder Michelle Burchill said she saw "a surge of early ballots being returned earlier than usual," which translated to low election day turnout. Whitney Juszczak, assistant elections director for neighboring Coconino County, reported "a slow start" on Tuesday in the wake of scattered snowstorms that left roads icy.

In heavily Democratic Pima County, most voters showing up to the polls were Republicans. That's part of a trend of liberals in the county increasingly voting by mail and ballot dropbox. Election Director Constance Hargrove said about 10,000 voters turned out on Tuesday, far less than the 38,000 who came to the polls in the 2016 presidential preference election. It's the most recent election in which both parties ran statewide presidential nomination races.

Election day turnout was similarly depressed in Pinal County, a Republican stronghold. There, Deputy Elections Director Matt Roberts said he didn't see "many, if any, lines at our locations."

Meanwhile, early ballot receipts in the state's largest counties were about on par with 2016. Maricopa County officials said they had received about 540,000 early ballots before election day, a little more than the roughly 534,000 early ballots cast in 2016.

In Pima County, ballot receipt data shows about 148,000 early ballots set to tally on election day. The county saw a little over 159,000 early ballots in 2016.

Complete early voting data for Tuesday’s election won’t be available until early next week.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for The Arizona Republic. Do you have a tip to share on elections or voting? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona election day sees smooth presidential primary, low turnout