“Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Arizona’s free newsletter here. Alexandra Flahive approached the “polling place” with a mail ballot in hand. But upon entering, she opted not to drop it off and have the signature on its envelope checked, as hundreds of thousands of Arizonans typically do on Election Day. Instead, she waited in line, checked in on an electronic pollbook, and presented a voter ID. Then, she handed the ballot to a poll worker, who stamped it with a message in bright-red ink: “ID verified.” At the end of another line, a worker slashed open the ballot envelope. Flahive removed the ballot, feeding it into a vote-counting machine. Thus, her vote was cast. Or, at least, it would have been, if this had been a real election. Flahive, communications and outreach manager at the Maricopa County Elections Department, was one of a few hundred people helping the county conduct a test run of this year’s election, which will feature a brand-new voting option. Arizona voters can now show ID when dropping off mail ballots, avoiding signature verification In Arizona, voters have long had the option of dropping off their mail ballots at polling places. Under state law, voters must show identification to cast ballots in person, but those dropping off ballots are allowed to skip that step — as well as any associated lines at the polls. Instead, they just have to sign the envelope that contains their ballot and place it in a secure box at the polling site. Trained staff later compare that signature to signatures the voter has on file before counting their vote. That process, called signature verification, is a key safeguard against fraud. But it also takes time — and as the state has morphed into a key electoral battleground, there has been increasing consternation with how long it takes to count so-called “late early” ballots dropped off in the final hours of voting. In 2024, state lawmakers passed legislation requiring election officials to offer a new option. Like Flahive, voters in the upcoming midterm election will have the option to wait in line and show a driver’s license, passport, or similar form of identification, instead of dropping their ballot off to go through signature verification. This option would allow their votes to be processed sooner and counted more quickly. The mock election, held at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, represented one of the first tests of that new process. Officials from several other counties — including Coconino, Pima, Pinal, and La Paz — traveled to watch it in action. It appeared to run relatively smoothly. About 300 mock voters moved through the simulation in an hour and a half — less than the two hours that officials had designated for the exercise. Jennifer Liewer, the deputy elections director of Maricopa County, said the simulation represented a high-turnout scenario at one of the county’s vote centers on Election Day, with “pretty much every possible issue that we could think of occurring.” “It was really about stress-testing the system,” she said, adding that officials also use the mock election to “look at the little things” that could save voters time and improve their experience at the polls. “We want to try to figure out what could go wrong, so we kind of threw everything possible at the poll workers and at the system to see where there were breaking points.” She rattled off some of officials’ main takeaways. They’re exploring the best pathways for voters who come to drop off their ballots to move throughout polling places, an effort to minimize crowds and lines. For now, they’re anticipating adding three extra poll workers to each site to assist voters utilizing the new option. And, while training those staffers, officials intend to focus heavily on different things that could go wrong with the new process. “We’re going to be tabulating ballots that people have brought from home, and we feel like we’re going to see a higher likelihood of torn ballots or erroneous marks or overvoting,” Liewer said. “So, we’re just really focusing on ensuring that those tabulation clerks are extremely comfortable and knowledgeable with how the tabulators operate.” But one key question remains unanswered. In the simulation, one out of every three voters used the new process to cast their mail ballot. It’s unclear how many will choose to do so in the state’s upcoming primary and general elections — and, as a result, how much the new process will actually speed up the count. Alexandra Flahive, communications and outreach manager at the Maricopa County Elections Department, works during a mock election on Wed., April 1, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. Officials aimed to test out a new voting option intended to speed up counting. Tammy Patrick, a former election official in Maricopa County and chief programs officer at the Election Center, said some likely will choose to participate, even though it adds another step for them at the polls. Voters, she said, are increasingly being told that “they shouldn’t trust the system” and that their vote could be “negated or rejected.” “The question is, would it increase the number of ballots counted and included in that first initial count on election night?” Patrick said. She theorized that the new process might lead to a slight increase in that number, but that still would likely represent a “small” percentage of total voters. “In most cases, providing voters with more options is a good idea,” she said. “But the question remains, to what extent and to what expense.” Lines may deter voters from using the new process One factor likely to influence how many voters participate in the new process is how long lines are at the polls. Liewer said there are rarely lines during the primary, but they sometimes occur during the general election. In Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, she said lines typically max out at 30 to 40 minutes long. But most counties are bracing for a lengthy ballot in the November election as state lawmakers consider sending dozens of proposals to voters for approval. That could mean that voters see slightly longer waiting times this year — particularly on Election Day. This year, voters who opt to ID-verify their mail ballot will be in the same lines as other voters in most counties. Liewer said Maricopa County will offer only one line for all voters at its polling sites. Elections Director Eslir Musta of Coconino County, located about 100 miles north of Phoenix, said he plans to do the same. Officials said the decision largely comes down to logistics. Most voting sites don’t have room to accommodate two lines. Additionally, officials worry that separate queues would confuse voters. Plus, it would require completely separate pollbook stations and make it harder for poll workers to report accurate wait times. Alexandra Flahive, communications and outreach manager at the Maricopa County Elections Department, works during a mock election on Wed., April 1, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. Officials aimed to test out a new process that would require voters to show ID to have their mail ballots counted sooner, avoiding signature verification. It is intended to speed up election results. “We have limitations with our staff and equipment,” Liewer said. But as usual, voters dropping off mail ballots for signature verification will be able to skip the line at the polls. That raises questions about how many will be willing to wait to get their IDs verified. “We want to be realistic with people,” Liewer said. “We’re prepared for you, but we don’t know how many will take advantage of it.” Change means new costs for local election officials One thing is clear: The new voting option stands to cost counties a significant chunk of change. In Maricopa County, the price tag is expected to come to at least $1.07 million — a number that encompasses the cost of new tabulators and new full-time staffers to manage additional machines and poll workers. That figure doesn’t include the expense of adding three poll workers at each voting site, which officials said is still being calculated as they prepare to present a budget for the upcoming midterm election to county leaders. The total cost of the change will likely be lower in other counties. Maricopa County uses on-site tabulation on Election Day, meaning that voters insert their ballots into counting machines located at each polling site. That required it to purchase 550 new tabulators to use specifically for mail ballots at the polls — two per site, in case one breaks down. Most other counties use a central count model in which ballots are placed into secure boxes and transported back to election offices for counting after the polls close. “It’s a slightly different process — more simple, and not as involved with all these moving parts,” said Musta, of Coconino County. Still, he said counties will need to segregate ID-verified mail ballots into a separate container and add new poll workers to help voters through the process. “There’s a lot of new information for poll workers and a lot of training,” he added. Sasha Hupka is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. Contact Sasha at shupka@votebeat.org .
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