2026 Election: Maricopa County Recorder highlights quick ballot turnaround
2026 Election: Ballot signature check wraps up
Elections staff in Maricopa County have finished verifying late early primary ballots ahead of a Wednesday deadline, as tabulation begins. FOX 10's Steve Nielsen reports.
PHOENIX - Tens of thousands of votes still need to be counted in Maricopa County, but one step of this election is wrapped up well ahead of schedule.
Big picture view:
While residents slept, dozens of Maricopa County Recorder employees poured through mail-in ballots to review every signature. The new process promised greater oversight alongside faster verification.
On the afternoon of July 21, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap promised the work would be done by July 22.
"I think we'll have it done in hours, not days, so probably about midday tomorrow, we'll have that done," Heap said.
Dig deeper:
By 8:00 a.m. on July 22, staff finished the signature verification and sent the ballots off for processing ahead of schedule.
Heap spoke Wednesday afternoon wearing the same suit, having stayed with staff through the night to complete the job.
"Six hour turnaround to get the late earlies done," Heap said. "I don't think that's ever been done in the county, so we're pretty excited."
By the numbers:
More than 75,000 mail-in ballots had their signatures verified. These "late early" ballots, which are mail-in ballots turned in on Election Day, have traditionally caused tally delays.
"The late earlies that come in have always been kind of the source of this long delay before we get results," Heap said. "Voters have been very clear they wanted two things: a more secure sig. ver., but they also wanted it faster."
By 1:00 p.m., batches of those verified ballots started being tabulated. While the turnaround was fast compared to prior years, this primary saw low turnout.
What's next:
The stakes will be much higher in November, when many more ballots will require verification. November will serve as a big test, and the recorder expressed hope to finish signature verification by the next day as was done for the primary, though that timeline depends on how many voters turn in mail-in ballots on Election Day.
Once the county tabulates all of the signature-verified ballots, the remaining workload consists of about 2,800 ballots that need to be cured because the signatures did not match what is on file.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Steve Nielsen, Justin Heap, and FOX 10.