Ballots were mailed out to voters on early voting lists in Arizona's presidential election this week. The March 19 contest, which determines the delegates sent to the Democratic and Republican national conventions to select presidential candidates, is open only to registered members of both parties.
Unaffiliated “independent” voters had until Tuesday to reregister with a party to participate in the state's equivalent of a presidential primary.
As of the beginning of the week, there were about 237,000 registered Democrats and 174,000 Republicans in Pima County. More than 210,000 other Pima voters are either not registered with a party or are registered with Libertarian, Green Party, or no-label parties.
Voters who are not on the state's active early voting list can request a ballot to be mailed to them until March 8th. Number of early voting sites open You can vote in person until Election Day.
Pima County Recorder Gabriela Cazares-Kelly says every four years, restrictions on presidential candidate elections cause a lot of confusion and anger, especially for voters who show up on Election Day and are told they can't vote. He said it was causing anger.
“We anticipate that there will be a large number of people participating and very frustrated that they are not eligible,” Cazares-Kelly told the Sentinel earlier this month. “Voting is a very emotional act for people, and it can be very upsetting if you've prepared to support a candidate and find out you're not eligible to participate.”
Cazares-Kelly said March's election should not be called a “primary” even though that's a well-known term. Rather, it is technically a “presidential preference election” that is conducted differently than other federal elections in Arizona. Among those differences is that voters choose the slate of delegates that represent candidates at each party's national convention. And these delegates are not obligated to vote for the candidate who wins the March election.
Under state law, if a number of candidates “cease” their campaigns and cease active efforts to become candidates, but do not take formal steps to end their campaigns and remove themselves. will still appear on the ballot.
In addition to President Joe Biden, the Democratic vote includes Congressman Dean Phillips, author Marianne Williamson, and lesser-known names like Frankie Lozada, Jason Michael Palmer, Gabriel Cornejo, and Stephen Lyons. Contains candidates.
Republicans on the ballot include former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, among others currently on the ballot. This includes many inactive candidates. In addition to Vivek Ramaswami, minor candidates David Stackenberg, John Anthony Castro, and Ryan L. Binkley.
Since early February, about 900 voters have been added to Pima County's Republican rolls, and about 175 new Democrats have registered. Approximately 460 new independent voters were also registered.
Of the 625,611 registered voters in Pima County, according to This week's update report, 237,224 (38%) were Democrats, 174,569 (28%) were Republicans, and 204,656 (33%) were not registered with any affiliated political party. Less than 1 percent of Pima County voters were registered with the Libertarian Party, No Label Party, or the Green Party. The Green Party recently regained voting rights after being dropped from the list of recognized political parties for several years due to a low number of registered voters.
