Early voting sites are open across Pima County. At this late date, the county recorder is encouraging voters to drop off their ballots as opposed to sending them through the mail.

 Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star

With just days to go before Election Day, more people in Pima County have already cast early ballots than those who did during the 2016 election.

The number of ballots turned over to the Pima County Elections Department was 366,559, as of Friday morning, surpassing the 324,033 early ballots that were cast in 2016, according to the Pima County Recorder’s Office. The 2020 total doesn’t include an additional roughly 26,000 ballots that are awaiting verification.

Overall, about 58% of Pima County’s 635,201 registered voters have turned in early ballots, creeping toward the total of 78% in 2016. And potentially thousands more people are scheduled to vote over the next few days.

“We have had record numbers of returns but there are still a lot of mailed ballots that need to be returned,” Pima County recorder F. Ann Rodriguez said in a prepared statement.

Only ballots that are received by the Recorder’s Office by 7 p.m. Tuesday can be counted. Early voting sites are open across Pima County, and Rodriguez encouraged voters to drop off their ballots as opposed to sending them through the mail. Emergency voting locations open Saturday and Monday, and will accept vote-by-mail ballots. Any polling location or recorder’s office will accept voted ballots on Tuesday.

For more information, including site locations, visit recorder.pima.gov, or call 724-4330.

Ever wonder why Americans vote on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November? Like many traditions, the practice goes back a long time and hasn't changed in modern times. What do you think? Should we hold Election Day on another day or should we keep it on Tuesdays?

Campaign-finance complaint filed

A Phoenix-area company formed last year to help conservative Republicans win election has filed a complaint with the state Citizens Clean Elections Commission, alleging that Arizona Corporation Commission candidate Eric Sloan, a Republican, violated campaign-finance laws.

The Power of Fives LLC and its founder and managing member, Robert Branch, allege Sloan violated state laws governing publicly financed campaigns by overspending in the primary election and by failing to fully disclose bills from The Power of Fives for performing work for his campaign.

Candidates taking part in Arizona’s clean-election process – including Sloan and all five other Corporation Commission candidates – face limits on contributions and spending in exchange for public campaign funding.

Branch says Sloan has refused to pay the full amount of a $116,016 invoice from The Power of Fives for a “turnkey” primary election campaign that included obtaining nominating signatures, hiring campaign support staffers and holding campaign events.

Matt Roberts, a spokesman for Sloan’s campaign, said Branch’s complaint is without merit and stems from an ongoing dispute over work Branch’s company performed for the campaign.

“He was terminated before the primary for a number of reasons, and it seems he is upset about that and is trying to capture some of the funds that he feels, we believe inaccurately, that he’s entitled to,” Roberts said.

He called the complaint an effort by Branch to “smear” Sloan days before the election and said the campaign has been working with the clean-elections commission to settle the issue and has set aside some funds at the agency’s request.

Branch has declined to comment beyond his formal complaint.

In his complaint, Branch alleges that in November Sloan prompted Branch to hire his wife’s public-affairs company, Sloan Lyons Public Affairs, at $4,000 per month.

In May, Branch alleges, Sloan also prompted The Power of Fives to advance his campaign $23,000 to help fend off legal challenges to his nominating signatures.

Based on Sloan’s campaign-finance filings, Branch calculated that with his company’s total invoice, Sloan’s primary election expenditures were $152,468, while his primary campaign income was $130,412, so he overspent on the primary by at least $23,056.

If the clean-elections commission finds a candidate has violated clean-elections laws, the commission may decertify a candidate, deny or suspend campaign funding, order repayment of funds, or impose a penalty of up to $5,000 for a participating candidate for statewide office.

Older voters return their ballots first

Older voters were overwhelmingly more likely to turn in their early ballots first, according to early figures provided by the Pima County Recorder’s Office.

More than 60% of the first 270,000 ballots that were verified by the office were cast by registered voters aged 56 and older, as of Sunday, according to recorder’s office. The office could not provide updated figures later in the week.

That total of roughly 172,000 ballots represented 60% of the registered voters aged 56 and older.

Meanwhile, only 22% of the roughly 182,000 voters aged 35 and under had their ballots verified, as of Sunday.

Despite those small totals in Pima County, NextGen Arizona, a Democrat-leaning voter advocacy group, said this week that number of Arizona ballots cast by those aged 18-29 has increased 55% from 2016, as of Monday.

More than 137,000 ballots had already been cast by Arizonans ages 18-29, surpassing total turnout of 88,516 in 2016.

Additionally, 30- to 39-year-old Arizonans had already cast over 149,000 votes, compared to 103,849 votes cast in 2016 — a 44% increase.

“These early numbers reflect a changing tide,” NextGen Arizona state director Azza Abuseif said in a prepared statement.

“Arizonans are comprehending that casting a ballot is essential in forging a better future. We’ve been seeing this energy and momentum from young people on the ground for a long time, and we are so excited to see it realized at the ballot box.”

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Justin Sayers

Dave Wichner

Justin Sayers

Contact reporter Justin Sayers atjsayers1@tucson.comor 573-4192. Twitter: @_JustinSayers. Facebook: JustinSSayers.