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When will Arizona voters see the election results? What you should know

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Arizona voters can expect to see the first results of the general election about an hour after polls close on Tuesday, with more to follow throughout the night.

But complete results will likely take days. State law gives county election officials about two weeks to complete the count.

All districts are expected to release the first results around 8 p.m. This round will take into account the results of the first votes cast in the weeks leading up to Election Day. The vast majority of Arizona voters cast their ballots early, so this will account for a significant portion of the results.

From there, election workers in counties across the state expect to count the votes cast in person on Tuesday and release them at regular intervals throughout Tuesday evening.

The next day, counties will begin verifying signatures and counting last-minute early ballots and any ballots that require further investigation. For example, a person who shows up to vote without acceptable identification may cast a ballot, but it will not be counted unless the voter returns within five days with proper identification.

This process may take a few days. The more short-term ballots that come in, the longer it can take to count votes and determine close races. Officials in populous Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, currently estimate it will take 10 to 13 days to complete the count.

Here's what you should know about the counting process and when to expect results.

How does counting work?

Ballots cast in the weeks leading up to Election Day are counted first.

State law allows election workers to begin processing votes after accuracy tests are conducted on tabulation machines to certify the machines. That test took place last month, just before voters began receiving and returning early ballots. Since then it has been counting.

As of Thursday, poll workers in Maricopa County, the state's most populous, had received about 1.3 million early ballots. As of Friday, the Pima County Recorder's Office had sent about 280,500 early ballots to election staff to be counted. Those ballots will likely be included in the first round of county results after polls close.

On election night, workers will count voters' ballots on site. Some counties are geographically large, so surveys in the most remote areas of each region may take a few hours to report results. Additionally, recent elections suggest that a new state law aimed at speeding up fully unofficial results could delay the release of election night results.

Employees in Coconino County, the state's largest county by area, typically work into the early hours of Wednesday morning to release election results.

In the days following the election, workers will process and count early ballots cast immediately before and on Election Day. Normally new results are published every day.

Finally, election staff will process ballots that require closer inspection. They study provisional ballots, which are used when there is uncertainty about a voter's eligibility. They will require voters to bring a photo ID to process provisional ballots, which are used if a voter forgets to bring their ID to the polls. They will also contact voters to “cure” or verify any questionable signatures on early ballots.

State law gives voters up to five days to respond to requests from election officials.

When will the results become official?

The results on election night are unofficial.

Once all votes are counted, counties across the state will collect them or officially report the results to the state. The Arizona Secretary of State's office then conducts its own certification.

This year, districts must complete their survey by November 21st. The state poll is scheduled for November 25th. Results will be official once completed.

Election 2024: See Arizona election results | Live coverage throughout election day

When are races called?

Media and political pundits do not have to wait for results to become official to call races, but a candidate must have a wide enough margin that outstanding votes are extremely unlikely to change the outcome of the contest. This means that races with large vote gaps are often called on election night, before the full results are available.

In Arizona races, the winning margins are increasingly tight and take longer to call.

What happens if there are recounts?

State lawmakers recently expanded the threshold to trigger an automatic recount. Under the new law, which came into effect in 2022, the margin increased from a tenth of a percentage point to half a percentage point.

A recount really means a full recount. If a race falls into the recount range, poll workers must fully retest their county's ballots, rerun the race and repeat a hand count of a statistically significant number of the ballots.

All of this is happening after county officials have certified the election results, so recounts may not be completed until several weeks after Election Day. All recount results will ultimately be unsealed in court by a judge.

What happens when electoral challenges arise?

Candidates have five days after the federal hearing to file challenges in court. All challenges must be submitted by December 2nd.

State law provides expedited deadlines for courts to hear cases challenging election results. The state's highest court also recently issued an administrative order directing justices to prioritize post-election cases this year.

The court specifically set a Dec. 6 deadline for county-level chief justices to review all cases involving presidential electors.

That deadline leaves a window of five days before state officials must report the presidential results to the U.S. Congress and 11 days before voters meet to certify who won the presidential race. Congress will meet later on January 6, 2025 to count the votes.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and election administration for the Arizona Republic. Reach them at [email protected]. Follow her on X: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps. Subscribe to her weekly election newsletter. Republic recount.

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