Early balloting gives slight edge to GOP

Sierra Vista Herald ^ | Dan Shear | Wick News Service

[SandRat]

TUCSON — With Electon Day more than two weeks away, turnout already is 22 percent in the Special Election in Congressional District 8 and more than 33 percent in Cochise County.

The number of votes cast already amounts to three-fourths of the total cast in the April 17 primary.

Early ballots are being returned “at a record pace,” Pima County Recorder F. Ann Rodriguez reported May 25; 80,046 have been returned in the contest between Democrat Ron Barber, Republican Jesse Kelly and Green Party candidate Charles Manolakis, including 337 walk-in voters.

That amounts to 43 percent of the 188,941 ballots that have been mailed out to voters in Pima County. It also represents 24.3 percent of the total number of registered voters in CD 8, including many who will show up at the polls on Election Day, June 12.

Based on the party affiliation of those whose ballots have been returned and verified, Republicans hold a small edge, with 22,407 compared to 21,103 for Democrats, while those in other parties total 13,166. Because ballots are pouring in so fast, there is a backlog that have not been verified, so the party totals don’t add up to the grand total of those returned.

While Pima County accounts for 78 percent of registered voters in the sprawling district, balloting also is brisk in the other three counties that have some precincts in CD 8.

In Cochise County, 8,287 ballots have been returned, or 33 percent of the 25,141 that were requested. Those returned include 2,925 from Democrats, 3,565 from Republicans and 1,797 from voters of other parties or no party.

In Pinal County, 3,010 ballots have been returned, or 59 percent of the 5,093 ballots that were mailed. The breakdown on those returned is 847 Democrats; 1,433 Republican; and 730 other.

In Santa Cruz County, 514 ballots had been returned through Thursday out of 1,582 mailed. The party breakdown of returned ballots was not available, but of those mailed out, 595 were Democrats, 579 Republicans and 408 other parties or no party.

In all four counties, there have been 91,857 ballots returned or early votes cast. Based on Secretary of State’s figures that show 414,494 registered voters in CD 8, that is a 22 percent turnout throughout the district, slightly lower than the Pima County portion, but considered very high for a special election with two weeks to go.

The total number of ballots returned is about three-fourths of the 123,082 votes cast in the April 17 Special Primary Election. Then there were 45,062 ballots cast by Democrats and 77,721 by Republicans in all four counties, though the Democratic primary was uncontested.

Voters who have not yet requested a vote-by-mail ballot may request one from the Recorder’s Office by 5 p.m. June 1. Voters can request an early ballot by calling 724-4330 or going online at www.recorder.pima.gov. A voter may vote early in person at three locations in Tucson: the Recorder’s office at 115 N. Church Ave., the county elections office at 6550 S. Country Club Road and the East side Recorder’s office at 6920 E. Broadway Blvd., Suite D, during regular business hours. The deadline for any voter to return an early ballot is 7 p.m. on June 12.

[CanadianYankee]

Thanks for the update SandRat!

GO Jesse GO!!!

[lulu16]

Sandrat thanks for this article. I discontinued The Daily Red Star years ago. Now its just local morning talk radio for local news. I did not hear this. Add two early votes more to our column from Pima county.