Elections and Voting

Joe Arpaio Recall Suspends Paid Signature Gathering Campaign for Second Time

The roller-coaster campaign to recall Sheriff Joe Arpaio took steep dip today. With just two weeks left before the recall's May 30 deadline, the on-again, off-again paid effort to gather signatures is off again. See also: -Joe Arpaio Recall: 14 Days Left, a New Dennis Gilman Video -Joe Arpaio Reca ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Recall Re-Ignites Paid Petition Effort with 22 Days to Go

With 22 days remaining, the effort to boot Sheriff Joe Arpaio from office has re-started the paid petition-gathering campaign it discontinued back on March 18. See also: -Joe Arpaio Fans Look a Little Desperate With Billboards Urging People Not to Sign Recall -Joe Arpaio Recall: Give Joe the Pink S ... More >>

Republican Lawmaker John Kavanagh's the Latest Person Targeted With Recall

Filing petitions to recall politicians is officially "in," now that yet another petition has been filed with the Secretary of State's Office, this one to recall Republican Representative John Kavanagh.Kavanagh's "bathroom birther" proposal is what sparked this one, according to a press release sent ... More >>

Joe Arpaio's Birther Buddies Say They'll Take Recall Effort to Court to Shut It Down

The people behind Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "birther" investigation are now trying to tell the Arpaio recall effort that they'll go to court to shut it down if they don't do it themselves.Spoiler alert: Fat chance, for Arpaio's friends.See also:-Why Sheriff Joe Actually Is Nervous About the Recall Effort ... More >>

Is Andrew Thomas Delusional?

(Regular New Times readers, feel free to skip to the bottom of this post and cast your vote immediately.)Local Republican blogger Political Mafioso was already questioning whether disbarred and disgraced former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas was delusional after Thomas said he was considerin ... More >>

Poll: Most Arizona Voters Support Medical-Marijuana Act; 59 Percent Would Legalize Pot

An increased number of Arizona voters support the 2010 Medical Marijuana Act, and most would vote to end marijuana prohibition, a new poll shows. The poll of 600 Arizonan residents was conducted on January 9 and 10 by Public Policy Polling on behalf of the National Cannabis Industry Association. T ... More >>

After Election Day, AZ's Far Right Now Has a Fight on Its Hands

Ken Bennett Says 192,337 Ballots Left, Democrat Mary Rose Wilcox Defends County Elections

There's light at the end of the tunnel, my friends. And I hope there's a beer with my name on it when we get to it. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has released his latest update on the ballot count. Currently, there are 192,337 ballots left to be counted statewide, 28,550 of them early ball ... More >>

Ken Bennett Says 342,936 Ballots Left, 215K from Maricopa County

Like the Beatles once crooned, "It's getting better all the time...." Both Maricopa County and the Arizona Secretary of State's Office updated their elections results this afternoon, and the number of remaining ballots is declining at a steady pace. SOS Ken Bennett reported that statewide 342,936 ... More >>

Rich Carmona 4.25 Points Down, Kyrsten Sinema Gains, and 524,633 Votes Left Statewide

As votes continue to be counted throughout Arizona, GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Jeff Flake's lead over Democrat Rich Carmona narrowed ever-so slightly, while in Maricopa County, Republican incumbent Joe Arpaio continued to dominate Democrat Paul Penzone in the sheriff's race. Both Carmona and Pen ... More >>

Paul Penzone (Video), Rich Carmona Still in Play, and the Problem with Provisionals

Dennis Gilman and I talk to Penzone following his concession Above is a video from election night of Democrat Paul Penzone, shortly after he conceded in the sheriff's race to Joe Arpaio. Needless to say, Penzone looks like he's been through the proverbial ringer. I know there are those who disagre ... More >>

Joe Arpaio Triumphant and More Wreckage from Election Night

Last night was 2008 all over again: Obama wins, while those of us who must live in still deeply red Maricopa County lose. That is, those who want justice, racial and ethnic harmony, and competent, effective law enforcement. As in 2008, we are in the minority. Though percentage-wise, we may have g ... More >>

Maricopa County's Number of Remaining Ballots Unknown; Activists Urge Penzone, Carmona, to Retract Concessions

The Maricopa County Elections Department has given a straight answer about the number of ballots that still haven't been counted as of noon on the day after the election: they don't know.Citizens for a Better Arizona activists went to the elections office today to get a clear number, as media report ... More >>

Ann Kirkpatrick Called Winner in CD-1; Kyrsten Sinema and Martha McSally Sit on Leads

The Associated Press has called Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick the winner of the congressional race in CD-1, apparently defeating Republican opponent Jonathan Paton.For those waiting on the other congressional races -- Kyrsten Sinema v. Vernon Parker in CD-9, and Martha McSally v. Ron Barber in CD-2 -- ke ... More >>

Ken Bennett Says 602,334 Votes Left to Be Counted Statewide

Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has just announced that as of late this afternoon, "an estimated 602,334 early and provisional ballots statewide" have not been counted. "State law gives the counties 10 calendar days to verify and process the remaining early and provisional ballots," the rele ... More >>

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery Gives Warning to Foreign Election Observers

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery put out a press release to tell foreigners to keep their distance from polling places on election day, consistent with state law.That friendly reminder is in response to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe sending observers to watch the el ... More >>

Maricopa County Elections Office Had More Materials With Wrong Election Date in Spanish, So It Got a Calendar

The Maricopa County Elections Department documents showing the incorrect date for the election -- but just in Spanish -- were not the only things offering the wrong date for Spanish speakers.See also:-Helen Purcell Urged to End Confusion Over CBS 5 Early Ballot Report-Maricopa County Elections Depar ... More >>

Appeals Court Lets LD13 Foreigner Darin Mitchell Stay on Ballot

Legislative District 13 voters will be able to vote for state House candidate Darin Mitchell, despite the fact that a judge ruled he doesn't live in the district.Mitchell, a Republican, decided to appeal the county superior court ruling ordering him off the ballot, and he ended up winning that battl ... More >>

Catholic Conundrum: What's an Anti-Abortion, Pro-Immigrant Voter to Do?

Pinal County: Paul Babeu's Buddy, Cheryl Chase, Likely Secures Spot on Board of Supervisors

Cheryl Chase, a political ally of Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, grabbed the most votes in the District 2 race for Board of Supervisors. Republican voters chose Chase in the five-way race for that seat, giving her almost 46 percent of the vote, with her next closest competitor, John Acton, getti ... More >>

Kirsten Sinema, Vernon Parker and Why Top-Two Was and Is a Dumb Idea

What's interesting about the result of the primary races in the newly drawn Ninth Congressional District is not that Republican Vernon Parker and Democrat Kirsten Sinema won their respective primaries. Rather it's that taken together, those primaries offer a textbook example of why the so-called Top ... More >>

Paul Babeu, Pinal County Sheriff, Leading Far Ahead of Republican Challengers

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu has an early, and unsurmountable, lead with more than 62 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results in the Pinal County Sheriff's race. Only about half of the precinct votes have been counted. It isn't surprising that Babeu will beat out three other Repub ... More >>

SB 1070 Fuels a Movement of New Voters

John McCain High-Fives Enrique Pena Nieto, Mexico's President-Elect

See also: Arizonans Cast Ballots in Mexican Elections, from ArizonaU.S. Senator John McCain sent his congratulations via Twitter to Mexico's president-elect, soap-opera-actress lover  Enrique Pena Nieto on a historic win bringing back to power the PRI, a once authoritarian political party ... More >>

New Voting Laws Could Take Out Obama This Fall

State Senator Paula Aboud Announces Run For Gabrielle Giffords' Former Seat In Congress

​There's a new addition to the growing field of candidates eying the Congressional seat vacated by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords -- state Senator Paula Aboud announced this morning that she will seek the Democratic nomination for the seat."We have all been moved by the strength and coura ... More >>

Phoenix Voters Re-Elect Incumbent Thelda Williams, Select Newcomer Daniel Valenzuela

Phoenix Councilwoman Thelda Williams handily wins in District 1.​While they were electing Greg Stanton as their next mayor, Phoenix voters also returned Councilwoman Thelda Williams to her seat in District 1, and chose Daniel Valenzuela over Brenda Sperduti to represent them District 5. Like Phoen ... More >>

Mayor Greg Stanton? Early Results Show Stanton Leads Over Wes Gullett

Greg Stanton wins mayor's race in Phoenix, early results show​More than 74,000 Phoenix voters cast their ballot for Greg Stanton for mayor, giving him about 56 percent of the vote, according to early results.About 132,000 people cast votes, and of those, nearly 58,000 picked Gullett.While it ... More >>

Herman Cain Coming to Phoenix to Pucker Up For Joe Arpaio

www.sodahead.comGodfather's Pizza CEO/Gop presidential candidate Herman Cain.​Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio met with leaders from the Methodist Border Mission Network at his Phoenix office this afternoon to discuss -- amongst other things -- some issues the group has with the sheriff's polici ... More >>

Terry Goddard Leads Dems in Hypothetical, Gabrielle Giffords-Less Senate Race, Poll Finds

Bad news, Democrats: without Gabrielle Giffords, this guy is your best shot at winning a U.S. Senate seat.​Assuming Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords doesn't miraculously run for the Senate seat getting vacated by Senator Jon Kyl, former Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard is the most popular am ... More >>

Sarah Palin Leads Potential Pack of Republican Senate Candidates

www.raggedshirts.comF**K​As first reported by New Times, there are rumors that the Tea Party's number one ding-bat, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is considering a run for the Senate seat getting vacated by Senator Jon Kyl -- and according to a recently released poll, if she does run, there's ... More >>

Charlie Sheen Polls Higher Among Independent Voters Than Sarah Palin. It's Called "Winning...Duh"

www.greencelebrity.netCharlie Sheen's "winning" is getting political.​Charlie Sheen's "winning" knows no bounds, which is why it should come as no surprise to learn that when pegged against former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a race for president, Sheen's "winning" among independent ... More >>

Tea Party T-Shirt Lawsuit Settled With Coconino County; County Agrees to Objective Standards for "Electioneering"

Wearing a Tea Party T-shirt!​A settlement's been reached in a lawsuit filed by the Goldwater Institute on behalf of a Coconino County woman who was told in 2010 by election officials that her Tea Party T-shirts were not allowed in polling places. Thanks to the settlement, as long as the Tea Party ... More >>

Gabrielle Giffords Congressional Buddies Hold Fundraiser for Her 2012 Campaign -- For Whatever Office That May Be

Senator Giffords? Too soon to tell, if you ask us.​Several of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' friends in Congress will be holding a fundraiser to raise money for the wounded U.S. representative's 2012 campaign, fueling speculation that if she's able, she'll run for the U.S. Senate seat being vac ... More >>

John McCain Says He'll Give No Endorsement in 2012 GOP Presidential Primary

Nobody's getting the John McCain stamp of approval in the 2012 GOP presidential primary -- so he says...​"The Mav" says he's sittin' this one out.Arizona Senator John McCain said this week that he has no plans to endorse any candidate in the 2012 GOP presidential primary, which may not sit well wi ... More >>

Sidebar: Fantasy Voter Fraud

Prop 203: Friday Deadline More a Suggestion Than Deadline. Results Not Expected Until Next Week

​If you were expecting to learn the fate Prop. 203 -- Arizona's medical marijuana initiative -- tomorrow, don't hold your breath. Election officials don't expect to be done counting ballots until next week, which violates election statute, but, as we just found out, is not that big a deal.From ... More >>

Prop 203 Spokesman: "We're Likely to Win" Based on Trend of Provisional Ballots

​ Andrew Myers, the campaign manager for Proposition 203, tells New Times tonight that he's very hopeful the medical marijuana initiative will come out on top when all the votes are in. It seems like wishful thinking, but official figures show he might be right. Myers points out that provision ... More >>

Prop 203 Loses More Ground in Weekend Vote Counts

​ Arizona's medical marijuana proposition fared poorly in vote counts over the weekend, reversing the temporary positive trend we wrote about on Thursday. The numbers now stand at 773,555 against, and 766, 923 for Proposition 203, for a difference of 6,632. Election officials must have encou ... More >>

Proposition 203 Still Has Hope; Arizona's Medical Marijuana Measure Could Still (Maybe, Possibly) Win

  ​Don't exhale just yet, because Proposition 203 could still win. The medical marijuana measure is behind by only 6,732 votes out of 1.3 million cast, as of 9:47 a.m., the most recent update on the Arizona Secretary of State's Web site. All but two of 2,239 voting precincts ... More >>

Congressional Democrats Charge John McCain With Violating Same Campaign Finance Rules He Created

The Mav​Two new campaign ads funded by -- and starring -- Senator John McCain have Congressional Democrats in a huff.The ads are for Congressional candidates Jesse Kelly and Ruth McClung and are similar-in-nature to "campaign ads" run by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, in which he didn't so mu ... More >>

John McCain Campaign Responds to Campaign Finance Complaint

The Mav​Since our earlier post about a complaint filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee against Senator John McCain regarding some TV ads The Maverick funded, and starred in, the McCain campaign has responded to the charges.The DCCC feels that two ads McCain released violate the ... More >>

No, Rick Romley Can't Run as a Write-In, Duh, and More Bad News Re: Bill Montgomery

Danny Hellman I first used this illo back in 2008. Sadly, little has changed... Almost immediately after interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley's devastating loss in the GOP primary to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's pick for the position, Bill Montgomery, Democrats and disaffected Republicans ali ... More >>

Vote Counts Could be Complete by Saturday, County Says; Still 37,000 Ballots Uncounted in Valley

News release from county just in: 2010 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS August 26, 2010, 4:25PM, Phoenix, AZ - Maricopa County Recorder, Helen Purcell, says every effort is being made to complete final counting for the August 24 Primary Election by Saturday, August 28, 2010. "We've tabulated 57,231 earl ... More >>

Uncounted Vote Total Rises to 133,000 in State; Counting to Begin Again on Thursday

  Image: Ray Stern Helen Purcell, Maricopa County Recorder, expects to put out a news release at about 5 p.m. on Thursday with updated vote counts.​About 12,000 provisional ballots were amassed today at the Maricopa County Elections department, officials say, bringing the to ... More >>

Ben Quayle Responds to Fundraising Criticism

Ben Quayle​Ben Quayle, a candidate for Congress in Arizona's Third District, isn't even the Republican Party's nominee yet, but that isn't stopping the likely Democratic nominee, Jon Hulburd, from bashing him for how -- more specifically, where -- he raises money.Hulburd's gripe: a lot of Quayle's ... More >>

Tea Party T-Shirt: Can What You Wear Determine Whether You Can Go to the Polls?

Charlie Crist Won't Have Support of Old Friend John McCain in Independent Bid for Florida Senate

www.republicamyblog.com Florida Governor Charlie Crist and "The Maverick."​Florida Governor Charlie Crist did the unthinkable yesterday by bailing on the Republican Party and announcing that he will be running for the U.S. Senate as an Independent.The move comes after it became clear that C ... More >>

The Humane Society and Big Agriculture Slug It Out Over Animal Rights

Ben Quayle Has Never Voted in a Local Arizona Election, Records Show

​Ben Quayle, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle and the latest addition to the jam-packed list of candidates for the district three congressional seat, hasn't voted in a municipal election since registering to vote in Arizona in 1997, a new report claims.According to voting records dug up ... More >>