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Just a shout out to the SV Herald for this blog and for excellent coverage before and after. The comprehensive list of candidates for ALL elected offices was particularly great. In fact, it inspired at least one person to run for office because it showed a definite issue is the fact not all offices have people willing to run or serve for them. Again, this is fantastic coverage. The availability in real time - near real time - on the NABUR site is unprecedented and is a 'wow' factor for this long - ago County resident. Lived in Elfrida and Willcox during my school and college years, 1967 to 1984, and a period of time working in Bisbee for the County DPW 1985-1986. I've always subscribed to the Range News and now the SV Herald, and I have to say, the SV Herald is adding value since taking over the Range News - with the NABUR site and especially with this election coverage. Thanks for what's obviously taken serious dedication and some hard work! PS I absolutely miss the Range News and I'm sad to see it go after such a historic, long publication run. But the SV Herald is winning me over, especially this election.
Absentee ballots that are unable to be verified due to signature mismatches or other issues must then be "cured." If you received a notice from the recorder's office, Stevens says not to delay.
"The window is still open for most people, but generally it will all come to an end on Tuesday. Any ballot that is not cured by Tuesday will not be counted," he said.
There are still 312 ballots that need to be cured, with around 30 arriving at the recorder's office per day, Stevens says.
Almost all early ballots have been processed and verified, according to Cochise County Recorder David W. Stevens. There are still 312 ballots that need to be "cured," or fixed.
After ballots are verified by the recorder's office, they are sent to the elections department to be tabulated. Yesterday, the Cochise County Department of Elections released another batch of results, adding 6201 ballots to the Election Night totals. There are still 9206 ballots pending.
The number of provisional ballots seems to have risen sharply this year. President Donald Trump had urged voters to vote again in-person if their absentee ballots had not been tabulated by Election Day.
Stevens says in the 2018 election only 1500 provisional ballots were submitted, with two-thirds of those being early voters voting again in-person.
This year, "One of the poll workers relayed to me that 95% of all provisional ballots were issued to people with early ballots," he said, noting that this was just a snapshot of one polling location.
Did you vote with a provisional ballot or know someone who did?
County elections officials are literally counting ballots right now. As of this morning, they had roughly 14,000 ballots to tally.
See my story at the following link: https://www.myheraldreview.com/news/cochise_county/thousands-of-ballots-left-to-count-in-cochise-county-election-official-says/article_333bb86a-1f8f-11eb-aae0-5f1376b483b3.html
"Sierra Vista had three at-large seats on its city council, but only two official candidates, veteran councilwoman Rachel Gray and political newcomer Angelica Landry, who were both voted in. There were four write-in contenders, but none raked in the required number of votes — 696 — as of late Tuesday evening.
Write-in candidates Kathy Boston and Gregory L. Johnson both received over 600 votes. Their numbers could increase later this week when the results are tallied. Cochise County elections officials announced on their website that the write-in candidate tallies would not be released until later this week.
If neither Boston nor Johnson gather the required number of votes, the city will have to appoint a third council member.
The four write-in candidates can apply to be considered as an appointee to the City Council, city officials said. The city will advertise the open seat, asking for applications from citizens interested in being appointed to the City Council. The appointee will be chosen after the City Council interviews applicants individually.
The 696 number comes from the process that the official candidates went through earlier this year when they were out collecting signatures for their petitions. They were each required to garner 696 signatures in order to get on the ballot as an official candidate.
Sierra Vista City Clerk Jill Adams said once the write-in votes are counted by the county, she is confident that either Boston or Johnson will reach the goal.
"They're not too far off from it now," Adams said.
If they don't reach it however, do you agree with the city's process of appointing someone to the City Council?
@Kale Kiyabu This update explains why there is a 696-vote threshold for Sierra Vista City Council candidates, according to city officials themselves. I will also try to get a direct answer from the city. Hope this helps.
I agree that ARS 16-645 C. would make it seem so... "C. A certificate of election shall not be issued to a write-in candidate for precinct committeeman or a write-in candidate for a nonpartisan office unless the candidate receives a number of votes equivalent to at least the same number of signatures required by section 16-322 for nominating petitions for the same office." Section 16-322 does specify how many signatures are required for specific offices.
However, the city ordinance states "The candidates equal in number to the offices to be filled who shall receive the highest number of votes at the general election shall be declared elected to such office or offices." This section does not cite an ARS and would seem that the two are in conflict with each other.
I would say that the City Council could and should follow both, don't issue a certificate of election based on ARS 16-645 C. and declare elected the person that receives the highest number of votes to fill the third seat based on Section 38.03 of the city's ordinance.
@Kale Kiyabu Jill Adams, city clerk, wrote to me in a email: "If no write in candidate achieves the 696 vote threshold there is an appointment process set out in Ordinance that lines up with Statute. ARS trumps local legislation, so the rules regarding write in candidates in the State Statutes are being followed." Thank you for raising the issue of this conflict in city code vs. state statute, it's definitely something interesting to consider. Let me know if there's anything else I can find out for you.
It would have been nice if the Herald would have done a timely, stand alone article detailing what was a stake for the write-in candidates. The vote count threshold and why as well as who the write-in candidates were.
A lot was overlooked in the only local news source that could have provided all the facts, in one place at one time. If that had been done in a timely many, I am sure we would have three council members elect.
FYI... § 30.21 FILLING VACANCIES ON CITY COUNCIL. of the Sierra Vista, Arizona Code of Ordinances covers appointments to the City Council.
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/sierravista/latest/sierravista_az/0-0-0-9636
Hi @JOE L KRAPS , thank you for your feedback. We will surely take it into account in the future. Although it was not a stand alone article, we did cover each of the official and write-in candidates in our 2020 Voters Guide, and most of them also appeared at our Virtual Candidate Forum to discuss their platforms.
From Cochise County Thursday morning: "Cochise County voters – if you voted a Provisional Ballot on election day, those take 3-5 days to verify before they can be accepted. They will not show up in the portal until that time because ALL early ballots dropped off on election day and in the drop boxes must be signature verified first and then accepted prior to Provisionals being reviewed. That is the process in place to ensure only one vote is ever counted. This has always been the case. Election results take nearly a week to finalize in a large election, every time. This election is no different. ALL eligible ballots will be counted. We have over 3K Provisional ballots and over 2K dropped off early ballots to verify."
The state and nation continue to watch as votes are counted and we inch closer to learning who our next President will be. Although Arizona was declared for Joe Biden by the Associated Press at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, President Donald Trump has made inroads in subsequent vote counts. We will continue to monitor the situation here in the state and beyond.
The New York Times, which Herald/Review Media also draws national content from, had this to say about the AZ race early Thursday morning.
"No matter how you cut the data, it’s hard not to arrive at the conclusion that Biden’s lead will withstand the late vote. But there’s also enough uncertainty with the number and kind of ballots left that it would be a mistake to be too sure about it. Certainly, it is too soon to project the state for Biden."
As a local news organization, we depend on our national counterparts for wire content, to then provide you information on what is happening across the country. However, when our two major national outlets have different metrics for deciding when to call a state for a candidate, it puts us in a tough spot. So, we are doing our best to bring you all the information as more votes remain to be counted.
Cochise County did not count any additional ballots Wednesday, instead collecting mail-in ballots dropped off at voting centers on Tuesday and getting the remaining ballots ready to be counted and results released. Check here for the latest results from the county (state results here).
From the Newsroom: Updates on the District 2 Supervisor race
Election Day Fact Check: How many ballots are left to be counted in Cochise County?
District 5 Superior Judge Republican candidate Jason Lindstrom today posted that there are still 10,000 ballots left to be counted. However, Lisa Marra, Cochise County elections commissioner, told Herald/Review Media that there are in fact 14,000 left. We are working on confirming the 2,500 per day processing time figure quoted by Lindstrom and will update this post when we do so.
Arizona how could you turn your state over to the liberals, i am just sick over this and so disappointed
Had Arizona continued on, in the respectable path of traditional conservatism with people like Jeff Flake and John McCain, I would have been fine. This election was more about the defeat of the cult of Trumpism.
The state has hardly been turned over to the liberals. According to Ballotpedia, the Democrats have just 13 of the 30 senate seats. In the House, it's a bit different. Democrats have won 20 seats of 60, Republicans have 12. There are still a few races not called yet and thousands of ballots to count.
County elections official Lisa Marra tweeted this yesterday. In Arizona, "ballot selfies" are legal with absentee ballots, but cell phones or electronic devices are not allowed within 75 feet of a Vote Center.
Would you please list the BIsbee School Board. is It a final count?
Hi Carol, here are the final unofficial results from last night. These results include Early Voting, mail in ballots and all 17 Vote Centers but DO NOT include any Provisional or Early ballots dropped off at the Vote Centers. The results also do not include all votes cast for write-in candidates.
It looks like you are in the lead so far, so congratulations!!
Thanks. I have seen that. I know our third position is just 1 vote apart and was wondering if this is a final count.
do you have any idea how many ballots are left to count
@Carol Loy Hi Carol, our reporter @Shar Porier talked to election official Lisa Marra today who says there are still 14,000 ballots left to be counted. Keep in mind that this figure is county-wide, so the number of ballots with votes for the BUSD race would be much fewer.
That's 14,000 for the whole county.
They were voting for 3 candidates so that up to 3 votes per person. Does look like a good turn out though. I’m happy to see so much interest in the schools
Final Cochise County election results of the night. Thanks for tuning in to our election live feed Cochise County! We'll continue to update this page as more results roll in.
Updates from our Bisbee reporter @Shar Porier
ABC15 released this live, precinct-by-precinct map that showcases results in an interactive format. Check it out here.
9:13PM. Cochise County elections official: "Early voting results from all 49 precincts in Cochise County have been released, and voting centers are reporting results to us as we speak. No estimates on time for next reporting."
Cochise County early voting unofficial results have been released! Watch the sidebar (or scroll all the way to the bottom if on mobile) for an interactive data visualization of the results as they come in... The New York Times says these results account for an estimated 60% of total votes.
Source
Vote tabulation is well underway at the Cochise County elections department - Lisa Marra, elections commissioner, and Martha Rodriquez, deputy elections commissioner can be seen working hard! Did you know that since 2008, Arizona law requires county recorders to maintain live video recordings of tabulation centers while ballots are being counted?
Polls just closed in Arizona... Precincts will start reporting after 8:00 p.m., according to the Cochise County Elections Department.
Did you request a mail-in ballot? In Arizona, 2,721,505 ballots were returned (out of 3,454,524 requested), according to Saguaro Strategies, a media firm that helps Democratic campaigns. They're left-leaning, but they pulled their data from the Maricopa County Recorder and Arizona Democratic Party Voter File. Here's the data breakdown for Cochise County, Sierra Vista and Bisbee.
How many people were in line when you went to vote?
Herald/Review photographer @Mark Levy took these photos in the field today. Did you go out and vote?
This is Lyda Longa, I'm covering the election with Shar Porier tonight. I just went to the polls and was thrilled to see a lot of young voters. The races I'm most familiar with are Sierra Vista City Council, Sierra Vista Justice of the Peace, and Cochise County Superior judge for Division V. What are your thoughts?
If you voted by mail or early voting, check the status of your ballot here: https://my.arizona.vote/AbsenteeTracker.aspx
Yes - we (women) can! Did Donald just realize - or discover - this?! LOL
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