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Elections Officials Offer New Plans For Maricopa County

Faced with a lack of resources during the pandemic, Maricopa County election officials are scrambling to alter their plans for in-person voting.

Scott Jarrett, the county’s director of election day and emergency voting, told the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors he’s proposing to reduce the number of polling sites from 500 to roughly 100 sites.

That’s because locations that the county has traditionally used to operate polling sites won’t agree to host this fall.

Jarrett said most of the polling locations used during the March presidential preference election haven’t responded to the county’s request to operate in August or November. Those that have told officials they’ll only agree to host elections if the coronavirus is no longer a concern by then, Jarrett said.

There’s also the matter of finding enough workers to operate polling sites. 

Jarrett said most election workers are older, a population that’s more vulnerable to the coronavirus and may be unwilling to work as they would under normal circumstances.

That left Jarrett and others searching for new sites that are large enough to provide the space needed to accommodate voters in a timely and safe manner.

Jarrett told the supervisors he’s looking for locations that are at least 2,500 square feet, large enough to host nine check-in stations and 20 voting booths. Election officials are hoping to identify up to 100 sites — they’ve found 45 so far, Jarrett said.

Fewer polling sites also means fewer poll workers, from 3,600 to 1,000 at most.

In a worst case scenario, Jarrett said the county may have to rely on the Arizona National Guard to help run the election.

To compensate for a reduction in polling places, Jarrett said all 100 sites will operate as voting centers instead of precinct-specific polling places. So rather than be assigned a designated polling site, voters across the county can cast their ballot at any site.

Jarrett is also proposing to keep those voting centers open for up to two weeks before the election.

The county also plans to relay voters’ options to cast ballots remotely. That includes signing up for the Permanent Early Voting List and having an early ballot mailed to your home.

The changes were presented to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors at a planning session on Monday. 

The board must still approve those changes before they can be implemented.

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Ben Giles is a senior editor at KJZZ.