Expand / Collapse search
☰
Flood Warning
from SAT 2:41 PM MST until MON 8:00 AM MST, Maricopa County
8
Flood Warning
from SAT 3:52 PM MST until MON 7:45 AM MST, Maricopa County
Flood Warning
from SAT 10:26 PM MST until MON 8:00 AM MST, Gila County
Flood Watch
until MON 5:00 AM MST, Eastern Cochise County below 5000 ft including Douglas/Wilcox, Upper Gila River and Aravaipa Valleys including Clifton/Safford, Southeast Pinal County including Kearny/Mammoth/Oracle, Western Pima County including Ajo/Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Dragoon/Mule/Huachuca and Santa Rita Mountains including Bisbee/Canelo Hills/Madera Canyon, Tucson Metro Area including Tucson/Green Valley/Marana/Vail, Tohono O'odham Nation including Sells, Baboquivari Mountains including Kitt Peak, Upper San Pedro River Valley including Sierra Vista/Benson, Chiricahua Mountains including Chiricahua National Monument, Galiuro and Pinaleno Mountains including Mount Graham, Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains including Mount Lemmon/Summerhaven, White Mountains of Graham and Greenlee Counties including Hannagan Meadow, South Central Pinal County including Eloy/Picacho Peak State Park, Upper Santa Cruz River and Altar Valleys including Nogales, North Phoenix/Glendale, Aguila Valley, Mazatzal Mountains, Tonopah Desert, Gila Bend, San Carlos, East Valley, Northwest Pinal County, Northwest Valley, Southeast Valley/Queen Creek, Globe/Miami, Deer Valley, Fountain Hills/East Mesa, Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, Buckeye/Avondale, Tonto Basin, Rio Verde/Salt River, South Mountain/Ahwatukee, Dripping Springs, Southeast Gila County, Pinal/Superstition Mountains, Scottsdale/Paradise Valley, New River Mesa, Sonoran Desert Natl Monument, West Pinal County, Superior, Cave Creek/New River, Central Phoenix, Northwest Plateau, Lake Havasu and Fort Mohave, Yavapai County Mountains, Little Colorado River Valley in Navajo County, Western Mogollon Rim, Coconino Plateau, Chinle Valley, Yavapai County Valleys and Basins, Oak Creek and Sycamore Canyons, Grand Canyon Country, Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas South of Hwy 264, Little Colorado River Valley in Coconino County, Black Mesa Area, Marble and Glen Canyons, Northeast Plateaus and Mesas Hwy 264 Northward, Northern Gila County, White Mountains, Kaibab Plateau, Eastern Mogollon Rim, Little Colorado River Valley in Apache County
Wind Advisory
from SUN 8:00 AM MST until SUN 11:00 PM MST, Eastern Mogollon Rim, White Mountains, Little Colorado River Valley in Apache County, Little Colorado River Valley in Navajo County, Little Colorado River Valley in Coconino County
Flood Advisory
from SAT 10:51 PM MST until SUN 10:45 AM MST, Yavapai County
Flood Advisory
from SUN 2:56 AM MST until SUN 7:00 AM MST, Pinal County, Gila County
Flood Advisory
from SUN 1:33 AM MST until SUN 8:30 AM MST, Navajo County, Apache County, Gila County

Some Arizona polling places down, frustrating primary voters

FOX 10 Phoenix
Ty Brennan's Reports
Published August 28, 2018 6:43 PM MST
Published August 28, 2018 6:43 PM MST
Video poster

PHOENIX (AP/KSAZ) -- A contractor hired to set up voting machines in the Phoenix area failed to send enough technicians, leaving several polling places out of operation during Arizona's primary election Tuesday, two years after voters endured hours-long lines.

According to a tweet made by Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes on his unverified Twitter page, the set up in 62 polling places had not been complete, as of 6:00 a.m., but all sites were functional by 11:30 a.m.

Fontes said the contractor didn't set up the machines on time and his office in the state's most populous county quickly trained and deployed workers to get the machines going once it learned of the issue Monday afternoon.

"This is not a hiccup, this is a serious concern where lots of voters in Maricopa County are not able to get voting," Fontes said.

>>Arizona Secretary of State's Office - Find your polling place

>>VIDEO: Maricopa County Recorder news conference about polling problems

There were dozens of reports of people who showed up to cast a ballot and were turned away. Fontes made no mention of the troubles during a Facebook Live video he recorded with a voter shortly before polling places opened at 6 a.m.

"We are excited about opening up our polling places in a couple of minutes," Fontes said.

He said in the video that voters could go to their usual polling places or to any of 40 voting centers that anyone can use regardless of where they live.

His office estimated Monday that some 250 polling locations would not open on time, but it's unclear how many were actually down by the time polls opened at 6 a.m.

Fontes said he learned of the issue around 2 p.m. Monday and realized by the evening that it "was going to be a real problem." He said only about 70 of the 103 technicians contracted to set up the machines at individual polling sites showed up.

It comes after Phoenix-area voters waited for hours in massive lines in the 2016 presidential primary after the county drastically cut the number of polling locations. It led to voters ousting the county's longtime elections chief that November and electing Fontes.

He has pledged to make elections smoother.

Phoenix voter Tyler Knecht, a registered Democrat, said he was frustrated after he first went to a polling station in downtown Phoenix that anyone can use regardless of where they live only to be told to go to his specific polling place.

He then was sent back to the first location and was told he could only cast a provisional ballot, which may be counted once a person's eligibility is confirmed.

"They made me cast a provisional ballot, and I didn't want to after what happened in 2016," Knecht said, adding that he has no expectation it will be counted.

A large number of provisional ballots were thrown out statewide in the 2016 presidential primary.

Another frustrated voter, Ben Saylor, said he arrived at his polling place in north Phoenix and was told the equipment would not be set up until lunchtime. He was directed to a vote-anywhere polling station and also was told he would have to cast a provisional ballot.

"If you're a registered citizen, and you have the right to vote, there should be no such thing as a provisional ballot," Saylor said.