Tuesday is election day: Don’t forget to vote . . . If you haven’t already

Walt Mares Photo/Gila Herald: Perform your patriotic duty and cast your vote this election.

By Jon Johnson

jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com

GRAHAM AND GREENLEE COUNTIES – Tuesday, Nov. 3 is election day and vote centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

While Graham County has had a large number of early ballots cast and either mailed in or dropped off in-person in the past, this year’s election is unprecedented in the number of early votes cast.

As of Oct. 30, Graham County had 13,377 early ballot requests with 8,928 being turned in, and Greenlee County had 3,390 requests and 2,166 turned in as of Oct. 29. For the state, 3,369,507 ballots were requested and 2,465,894 votes have already been cast and returned, with 920,817 being from Democrats, 914,135 from Republicans, and 630,942 from others, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

For Graham County, the early ballots already returned include 4,934 from Republicans, 2,489 from Democrats, and 1,505 from others, for a 50.4 percent turnout for Republicans, 48.6 percent turnout for Democrats, and 30.5 percent turnout for others.

In Greenlee County, the returned ballots include 976 from Democrats, 733 from Republicans, and 457 from others, for a 58 percent turnout for Democrats, 41.6 percent turnout for Republicans, and 32.3 percent turnout for others.

For those who requested a ballot but didn’t return it, you can still drop it off at any of the vote centers on election day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Do not attempt to mail it now as it will not be counted.