Each part of the process—from printing, mailing, verification, processing, & tabulation—plays an important part in our robust security process. In Maricopa County, early mail-in voting is a popular choice among 76% of our voters! Here’s what it takes to count early ballots! (1/8)

Before we send out early ballots, the Elections Department checks voter registration records and other government databases to ensure we send the correct ballot to the correct voter. (2/8)

We mail notices to all mail-in voters 90-days prior to an election to confirm a voter's address. We track each ballot with our intelligent barcode and check in all ballots with the same barcode. This helps us provide ballot updates. Check yours at http://BallotStatus.Maricopa.Vote  (3/8)

Once ballots are received, they head straight to the signature verification team. This step provides security and accuracy! Our multi-level signature verification process is supported by trained staff and managers who validate 100% of the signatures. (4/8)

We signature verify all affidavits against known signatures on the voter reg file & past affidavits. Only valid signatures are counted! Upgrades in technology allow us to verify about 1,000 signatures per person per hour! We follow-up with every voter who has a sig issue. (5/8)

Once verified, our ballot processing boards carefully open each affidavit envelope and securely separates the ballot from the affidavit to get them ready to be counted. (6/8)

Those steps are an important part of Maricopa County’s early ballot system, to ensure only valid ballots are counted! (7/8)

Our new tabulation equipment is tested for accuracy before and after each election and is fast! It can count 6k-8k ballots-per-hr. Our teams properly feed ballots through the tabulator and bipartisan boards review write-in candidates to tally up the votes! (8/8)