Voters in Maricopa County and State Not Lazy Asses After All

Initial reports of less-than-stellar voter turnout in the November 4 election brought cries of frustration from some officials: "It's extremely disappointing to me," Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell told the East Valley Tribune. "We work very hard for this. I think it went smoothly, but I just would have liked...

By Ray Stern

November 20, 2008

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Initial reports of less-than-stellar voter turnout in the November 4 election brought cries of frustration from some officials: "It's extremely disappointing to me," Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell told the East Valley Tribune. "We work very hard for this. I think it went smoothly, but I just would have liked to see more people."

The Arizona Republic also mentioned the allegedly poor turnout being reported from election precincts: "In fact, it probably won't even best the participation seen in the previous presidential race in 2004, when George W. Bush defeated John Kerry."

Wrong. As the Repub is now reporting, voter turnout surpassed that in the 2004 election and came close to the 1980 record.

It's nice to know most everyone did their part for the democracy. -- Ray Stern

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.