Hey, Arizonans!

Did you know that you’ll have a brand-new voting option at the polls this year?

You’re probably already familiar with the process for dropping off your mail ballot at the polls. You simply sign the envelope that contains your ballot, and trained staff later compare that signature to your other signatures on file before counting your vote.

That process, called signature verification, is a safeguard against fraud. But it also takes time — and as our state has morphed into an electoral battleground, there’s been increasing consternation with how long it takes to count mail ballots dropped off in the final hours of voting.

So, state lawmakers passed legislation requiring election officials to offer a new option. Starting this year, you can show a driver’s license, passport, or similar form of identification at voting sites to have your ballot counted immediately, without the signature verification process on the backend.

But, there’s a catch. Those dropping off ballots are able to skip lines at the polls. If you choose to have your mail ballot verified with an ID, you’ll have to wait alongside voters trying to cast ballots in person.

As election officials seek to prepare for upcoming elections, they’re wondering exactly how many voters will choose to participate in the new voting option — and, as a result, how much the new process will actually speed up the count.

Tammy Patrick, a former election official and chief programs officer at the Election Center, told me that some voters will likely choose to participate, even though the new process adds another step for them on Election Day.

Voters, she said, are increasingly being told that “they shouldn’t trust the system” and that their vote could be “negated or rejected.”

But she was less sure about whether the new process will actually increase the number of ballots counted on election night. She theorized that the new process might lead to a slight increase in that number, but that still would likely represent a “small” percentage of total voters.

That raises the question of whether it’ll be worth the effort and money to offer the option to voters in the long run. In Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, the price tag for the change is expected to come to at least $1.07 million — a number that encompasses the cost of new tabulators and new full-time staffers to manage additional machines and poll workers.

There are also temporary costs that have yet to be calculated, including the expense of adding three new poll workers to each of the county’s voting sites for this year’s elections.

Do you typically drop off your mail ballot on Election Day? If so, would you use this new option? Let me know at [email protected].

And, if you know someone who might like staying informed on election news from Arizona, tell them to sign up for the newsletter here.

On the Lighter Side

Duwayne Collier, who is running for secretary of state under the Green Party, turned in signatures to qualify for the ballot last week — but he may not actually be a party member.

The Arizona Green Party said in a social media post late last year that several “sham candidates,” including Collier, were collecting signatures under its banner.

“It has come to our attention that there are candidates collecting signatures to qualify for the 2026 election on the Arizona Green Party's ballot line,” party officials said. “We do not know these candidates and they have never been involved in the AZGP.”

Collier doesn’t seem to have a campaign website, further adding to the mystery.

But somehow, he still collected 3,617 voter signatures — well over the 1,771 required to qualify for a secretary of state run as a Green Party candidate. 🤔

The Big Story

Arizona officials prep for new mail-ballot dropoff procedures that aims to speed up counting

Arizona voters can now show ID when dropping off mail ballots at polling places in lieu of signature verification. The change could lead to faster election results if voters opt in.