Arizona election officials are bracing for potential delays and machine jams due to the introduction of multipage ballots in the upcoming election. Voters in nine of the state's 15 counties will receive a two-page ballot, marking the first use of multipage ballots in nearly two decades. They will include an average of 79 contests per county. In a bid to ward off election conspiracy theories, election officials are trying to inform voters early.
In Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, election officials have significantly increased polling infrastructure: there will be 246 vote centers, up from 175, and 8,000 voting booths, up from 5,000. Scott Jarrett, Maricopa County's Elections Director, emphasizes voter preparation. "What voters should know is it will take them longer to complete the ballot, just because there's so many more questions," Jarrett explained. Voters are encouraged to decide on research races and ballot measures in advance.
Public reactions to the longer ballot are mixed. While some, like retiree Jack Balson, fear it may dissuade voters and cause long lines, others, such as first-time voter Ahmad Tamini, are unbothered. Officials expect over a million early mail votes and up to 730,000 in-person ballots on Election Day. Jarrett estimates that filling out the ballots may take between nine and 13 minutes for the average voter and warns that the new multipage format might cause vote tabulation machine jams. Poll workers are undergoing additional training to manage these potential issues. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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