MOHAVE COUNTY – An avalanche of early voting is beginning today throughout Mohave County. Well more than half of the county’s 127,000 registered voters have requested mail ballots to vote in front of the upcoming August 4 primary election.
“Right now we have over 74,000 early ballot requests,” Recorder Kristi Turley said. They’ll be mailed out en masse starting today, though properly registered voters can request them up until July 24.
Blair said her best recollection of previous record early ballot requests in Mohave County was in the neighborhood of 50,000.
Blair, Elections Director Allen Tempert and other county officials are encouraging voting by mail to reduce risk of COVID-19 exposure at polling places on election day. Quick return of mail ballots is also encouraged so that they can be processed in advance for election night tallying, rather than days later as frequently occurs.
“As soon as you get your ballot it would be great if you would get it sent back to us either by returning it in the mail or you can drop it off at an early voting site,” Blair said. She said such sites are established at county libraries in Lake Havasu and Bullhead City and at the Senior Center and the county administration building in Kingman.
Blair said she advises people to get their ballots in the mail by Wednesday, July 29 to provide time for them to reach county officials for timely processing and counting. Those who wait too long, she said, run the risk that their ballot does not get counted.
Blair said procrastinators and others can drop mail ballots off at any polling place on election day.
- Dave Hawkins
How do I request a early vote? I have recently broken my Fibula and am bed-bound for a month. Levi Rogers