Offices opened Wednesday in this state, one of the narrowest in the polls. Despite Donald Trump’s reluctance, both Republicans and Democrats are calling for a vote as soon as possible.
In the heart of Phoenix, “Vote here” signs surrounded an impressive building for several hours. Under a blazing sun, Justin Lee leaves the building feeling fulfilled, Wednesday, October 9. “I wanted to do this early because there can be a lot of people on Election Day and this vote is very important.”argues the 28-year-old apprentice pilot who lives in this metropolis of 1.6 million inhabitants, the capital of Arizona. About 27 days before the US presidential election, the young man has just voted for the Democrat Kamala Harris as opposed to the Republican Donald Trump.
Twelve polling places have already opened in Phoenix and its region, Maricopa County. Since Wednesday, Arizona voters have had the opportunity to vote in advance, both in the presidential election and in other local elections and referendums scheduled for November 5. They can come and vote in person, send their ballots by post or drop them in boxes designed for this purpose. In this swing modeone of the few crucial states that will determine the outcome of a particularly close election, early voting is of great importance to both Democrats and Republicans.
Justin Lee has a habit of getting things done early. L’“first vote”according to him, “gives people a lot of flexibility.” In areas where voting is open on a single day, “People may not have access to offices.” Especially since the presidential election, as required by the US Constitution, is held on a Tuesday: “Some may not be able to take time off from work,” he continues. Like him, 89% of voters in the state chose to vote early during the last presidential election, local website VoteBeat recalls.
Joanie Combs has always preferred to vote on D-Day But this time she has changed her habits. “This election is just too important,” she says outside city hall in Surprise, in the northwest suburbs of Phoenix. The pensioner came as soon as it opened, at “although I don’t like getting up early”, she smiled and proudly displayed an “I voted!”. “Voting early eliminates the unexpected, anything that could happen and prevent me from voting,” explains the voter, who also supports Kamala Harris.
Early in the morning, county and state Democrats wanted to set an example by gathering and voting as soon as Surprise City Hall opened. Among them Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who has the difficult task of overseeing the organization of elections throughout the state. “I encourage everyone to vote early,” he says to the press.
“This takes the pressure off the last day of voting, which can be very busy. And it allows us to get the results faster.”
Adrian Fontes, Arizona Secretary of Stateat france info
In the Democratic camp, the question is twofold. “We want everyone who votes regularly to do so” early enough “to then focus on people who don’t vote as often”, explains Patti O’Neil, chairwoman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party. Campaign teams can thus particularly target these more abstinent categories, such as Hispanic voters, young people or Republican women in favor of the right to abortion, this local official enumerates.
In Arizona, on the evening of November 5th, every ballot will count. Four years ago, only 10,000 votes made the difference in favor of Joe Biden against Donald Trump. And today, the Republican is very slightly ahead of voting intentions in the state, according to the American site FiveThirtyEight. “This election will be very close. We must be able to get everyone to vote’. insists Greg Whitten, Democratic candidate for the House of Representatives.
The democratic camp is not the only one mobilizing as quickly as possible. Sally, a 66-year-old Republican voter, wanted to come fast “to be sure that my vote would be taken into account”. The American is a supporter of Donald Trump and shares his baseless claims of election fraud. “I think some ballots were confiscated, I don’t trust the postal vote.”, she defends. For the voter, only early voting and in-person voting remain a reliable option.
Around 10 o’clock on Wednesday there are regular comings and goings at the Surprise polling station. A couple from Sun City, near Surprise, arrive. After four “bad” years of a Biden presidency, Donald Trump will have their votes, said these two retirees, who prefer to remain anonymous. According to them, early voting is a good thing, and they believe that it can benefit the Republicans to promote it. “Democrats have been doing this for years and it’s working well for them,” they assess.
The “Grand Old Party” seems to be making the same calculation. Tens of millions of dollars are being invested nationally to encourage Republican voters to vote before Nov. 5, Politico reports. The goal is the same as for the Democrats: “being able to focus on people who vote less regularly” and who could swing the election, supports James Taylor, a Republican running for a seat in the state House of Representatives. However, this campaign is marred by the confused message of Donald Trump himself, who urges his supporters to vote as early as possible while presenting early voting as more conducive to fraud.
The conservative organization Turning Point Action is at the forefront of this search for voters. On this first day of voting, James Taylor and other Republican candidates attend an event in suburban Phoenix. “The election really starts now!”, endorses Abe Hamadeh, Democrat Greg Whitten’s opponent for a seat in the House of Representatives. The approximately 80 participants in this meeting are invited to knock on doors, “hunt for votes” in the coming days. At the end of the event, Eric Hayes, young representative of Turning Point Action, sets off with two friends for a quick door-to-door canvass in a Sun City neighborhood. “The ballots will be sent out today”he whispers to a resident.
These Trumpist activists face the challenge of convincing undecided voters of the value of early voting. “Some are skeptical,” notes the young conservative, though “Others think it’s great.” “For me, the important thing is to vote. I prefer to vote on the day, but if you can’t, vote early”, he insists. A message delivered at the same time by Donald Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, at a rally in Tucson, further south in the state: “I encourage you to vote early if you can.”
On the same day, in the same city, but hours apart, his opponent Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ number two, made the same plea. And the Democratic presidential candidate himself will be in Phoenix on Thursday to in turn encourage Arizona voters to vote as soon as possible. Between Republicans and Democrats, the battle for early voting has begun.