We are in a presidential election year.
And if you’re a Democrat in Maricopa County, Feb. 18 is the last day to register to vote in the Democratic Presidential Preference Election.
To keep the process run smoothly, the county has a new website, ballots and tabulation machines.
Maricopa County is directing people to BeBallotREADY.vote to register.
All you need is your name, address and the last four digits of your Social Security number or your driver’s license number.
The website is available in English and Spanish. It is essentially a voter’s modern-day filing cabinet.
Erika Flores, the deputy director of communication for the county’s election department, said, “They can see when they can vote, if they’re eligible to vote in the next elections, how they can vote and where.”
FROM 2018:
The website was introduced Monday. It is just one of a number of steps taken to improve the voter experience.
“The last thing we want to see is long lines just like we saw in 2016,” Flores said.
The new ballot will use ovals as opposed to arrows. This step may seem small, but officials expect it to be easier for people to understand and machines to interpret. This should help prevent manual reviews.
“In addition to that, we do have more staff that we’re going to have for the presidential preference election,” Flores said. “We have more polling locations. We have someone who will be at the polling locations to make sure that the lines are moving smoother.”
Another improvement that promises to help this election run better than four years ago are the new tabulation machines.
There are nine of them, some which count two to three times as fast as the old machines. The equates between 6,000 and 8,000 ballots an hour in an effort to get you those election results faster.
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