Early Voters Speak in Arizona as Candidates Flock to State

Early in-person voting is fully underway in Arizona, a key battleground state.

The Epoch Times traveled the state to speak to voters. The Epoch Times also spoke to supporters of both former President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris at rallies for their running mates, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“We don’t want our votes suppressed or subverted,” Trump voter Troy Goddard said when asked why he had come to an early voting site in Tucson on Oct. 9, the first day of early-in person voting.

“I’m worried about our country,” said Mary Jo Odom, a Harris voter at the same early voting site.

On the ground, Arizonans of all political stripes were eager to cast their ballots as soon as they could. While many Republicans are still wary of non-Election Day voting, encouragement from Trump and other GOPers to vote early has resonated, especially after the 2020 and 2022 elections. In 2022, multiple voting machines failed on Election Day in Maricopa County, home to more than 60 percent of the state’s population.

“That’s why I’m voting early now—[to] make sure it’s getting counted and the same thing doesn’t happen in 2024,” said Susan Rosener, a Trump voter outside an early voting location in Scottsdale on Oct. 10. She voted at the Indian Bend Wash Visitor Center soon after Kari Lake, the Republican hopeful for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema.

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Arizonans who receive mailed ballots can choose to vote early in person.

The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 25.

Normal early in-person voting ends on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., four days before Election Day, Nov. 5.

The elections manual states that Arizona’s county recorders “shall establish in-person early voting locations throughout the county as practicable to ensure that all voters may reasonably access at least one early voting location.”

While a dozen of the county’s vote centers opened on Oct. 9, most others open on Oct. 25, Nov. 1, Nov. 4, or Election Day. All drop boxes, including two 24-hour drop boxes, open on Oct. 9.

Early Voters Explain Their Rationale

Goddard, the Trump supporter in Tucson, came with his wife, Trisha, and his mother, Ann. All three were enthusiastic Trump backers.

Ann was wearing a t-shirt with an American flag on it.

Odom, the Harris supporter, was also clad in an American flag-themed shirt. She said it was part of a deliberate strategy by Democrats to reclaim the emblem, which has become associated with Trump and his supporters.

“These are our colors as well,” she said.

Like many other Trump opponents who have spoken with The Epoch Times, Odom fears the former president will act like a dictator once in office and worries about “the potential of civil war.”

Even as Harris supporters speculate about a politically oppressive future, Rosener, the Trump supporter in Scottsdale, is already dealing with she sees as a heavy-handed response to her beliefs.

A few weeks ago, in an incident widely covered by local media, she was forced to throw her Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat in the trash before entering an Arizona Cardinals game. Rosener is a season ticket holder who has been buying tickets for more than three decades.

“I’m actually glad it happened, because it’s brought more awareness to free expression,” she said.

Jeff Gilb was also at the Scottsdale early voting site on Oct. 10. He told The Epoch Times he was voting so early “to get the ball rolling for Trump as soon as possible.”

Campaigns Barnstorm Arizona

Visits from Vance and Walz are part of a whirlwind tour of the state this week from both campaigns.

Harris is participating in an evening rally in the state on Oct. 10.

President Joe Biden’s wife, First Lady Jill Biden, will be a Harris–Walz surrogate at events in Yuma on Oct. 11.

In addition, Trump will hold an event in Prescott Valley on Oct. 13.