Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes: Arizona Moving To Mail-In Ballots Makes Sense

By Steve Goldstein
Published: Tuesday, September 3, 2019 - 12:01pm
Updated: Wednesday, September 4, 2019 - 7:48am

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Mail In Ballot
Mariana Dale/KJZZ
An Arizona mail-in ballot.

Three states have moved to all mail-in ballots for Election Day.

While there isn’t anything to indicate that Arizona will follow in their footsteps, a healthy majority of voters in last week’s Phoenix city election cast their ballots via mail. And in the 2018 general election, nearly 85% of Maricopa County voters decided at home, signed their ballots, put stamps on them and put them in the mail.

The Show spoke with Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes about election policies and procedures more broadly, and he thinks moving to all mail-in ballots would make sense.

To learn more about mail-in ballots and questions about whether expanding them here and in other states would improve the overall system, The Show also spoke with Lonna Atkeson. She is director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy.

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