Electronic pollbook should ease problems for Maricopa County voters
Jul 22, 2014, 1:52 PM | Updated: 1:52 pm
PHOENIX — Maricopa County elections managers hope that $3 million worth of equipment will eliminate problems at polls this election season.
County Recorder Helen Purcell said Tuesday that each polling place in the Valley will have an electronic pollbook, which should reduce the hassle of provisional ballots.
Arizona voters go to the polls in August for primaries.
Provisional ballots are used when a voter, for whatever reason (lack of proper identification, name change not reflected on registration card, name not on the poll roster), has a problem during the process. By law, a person is entitled to vote before leaving a polling place. He or she is given a provisional ballot.
The pollbook will also help get confused voters to the correct polling place.
“In 2012 we had 122,000 both provisionals and early ballots remaining to be counted,” Purcell said.
There’s also been a tweak to early ballots — the envelope containing the ballots has been changed to yellow from white.
“Maybe they will stand out this time and not get thrown in the trash,” Purcell said.
She said 862,000 voters requested early ballots for this year. The early voting period for the primaries begins July 31.
