February 2008 might seem a long way off, but not if you are a Pinal Co. elections worker.
The Presidential Preference Election has been moved from the 4th Tuesday in Feb. to Feb. 5th, or “Super Tuesday” when voters in many other states first go to the polls to choose the leading presidential candidates. Not later than Monday, Feb. 18th, 2008, residents will know who Arizona voters will see on the Nov. 2008 ballot for President of the United States.
Today, the Pinal Co. Elections staff is busy proofing ballots & testing machines for the Nov. 6th election. Voters on that day will decide 3 school district budget overrides (Apache Junction, JO Combs, Sacaton Elementary), the potential incorporation of Arizona City & the Stanfield Fire District’s adoption of the national fire code. By statute, adoption of a fire code, even the national code, has to be approved by voters.
State Legislators recently passed a law that all financial issues – overrides & bonds – must be voted on in the Nov. elections. That’s a change from the past when overrides & bonds could be presented during any of the 4 election months.
Early voting, or voting by mail, starts on Jan. 10th, 2008. The last day to mail early ballots will be Jan 25th, 2008.
Once the Super Tuesday Presidential Preference Election is over, the Elections Dept. is immediately preparing for the primary, presidential & statewide general election on Nov. 4th, 2008. March & May 2008 will host 6 city or town elections & possibly some school district & special district elections.
In order to directly participate in the administration of elections – to count ballots & officially certify election results – Gilberto Hoyos, Elections Director for Pinal Co. & his staff of 5 must pass a certification course every 2 years. The certification process covers new election-related legislation, timelines, technologies & voting requirements such as the new law requiring photo identification or 2 forms of non-photo identification. Every member of the staff is certified as of Sept. 26th.
Pinal County has 120,355 registered voters as of today.