The voting center in front of Arizona State University, the largest in the State with 145,000 students, had a constant flow of voters on Tuesday morning. At 8:00 o’clock Stephanie, 35 years old, appeared there. “The rights of women and minorities are for me the issues that made me come to vote. It is super important that we do not go back,” says this woman, who voted in an election for the first time at the age of 19 in 2008 to put Barack Obama in the White House.
For this day, Stephanie chose to wear a sweatshirt with some important dates for women in the United States printed on the back. Like 1900, when they obtained rights to acquire property and receive salaries. 1910, when they were allowed to wear pants. Or 1965, when African Americans were able to vote for the first time. There is also 2022, when the fight to restore the federal right to abortion began, which was enshrined in the ruling Roe v. Wade. The list ends with 2024: “Women can be president.”
The ballot in Arizona is one of the longest in history. There are two pages with the names of the candidates, among them a federal senator, and some proposals that have mobilized the electorate. Among others, there is 139 (to bring abortion protection to the local Constitution) and 314 (which toughens criminal penalties for irregular immigrants).
As of 3:00 p.m. (11:00 p.m. Spanish time), 165,000 people had voted in Maricopa County, the most populous in Arizona. This territory is larger than seven US states. 2.4 million voters are registered to vote here, the majority of the 4.34 million that make up the state census. Schools opened at 06:00 and will close 11 hours later. People who are in line at 7:00 p.m. will still be able to participate in the electoral process.
County Supervisor Bill Gates says the morning passed without incident. The average wait to vote has been between two and four minutes, although in a couple of schools there were people in line for up to half an hour due to the large influx. Gates has promised that the first results of the night will be announced at 8:00 p.m. local time (eight hours more in mainland Spain). The first figure to be released will be the 1.2 million ballots sent in recent weeks. Between 70% and 75% of the 1.5 million early votes have already been counted.
Maricopa County officials estimate that between 300,000 and 375,000 people will vote in person this Tuesday. They will do so under strict security measures. Journalists cannot come closer than 22 meters to the polling stations. Photographs or videos are also not permitted within this perimeter. Asking to vote for a candidate is also prohibited, as is carrying weapons, although Arizona allows being armed in public. There is at least one police patrol guarding each voting center.
In other parts of the State, however, there have been setbacks. Especially in the Navajo Nation, an Indian reservation in northwestern Arizona, which has a population of 350,000 people. Local media assure that some voters have complained because the ballot printers installed there have failed, which has caused delays and frustration. Several people have abandoned the long lines and given up voting during the morning.
Christian Petersen (Getty Images)
Chris Relega, 24, has voted for the first time. He did it for Donald Trump, whom he considers a “great leader” and whom he respects. With his vote he wants the country to focus on real problems such as the economy and not on “inconsequential issues” such as the rights of trans people and whether they can participate in sports. Relega has voted at Footprint Stadium, where Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns play. He makes a gesture of doubt when asked if he believes his candidate will respect the electoral result. “You know how it is, but I trust that it will,” he responds.
Jeff, 50, took about 20 minutes to fill out the ballot. For him, however, the most important race is that of the presidency. “I voted for Donald Trump,” says this smiling merchant, who came to vote in shorts and sandals. “I vote in person, it is a civic duty,” he says. This cycle, Jeff has changed his registration from independent to Republican. “The Democratic Party has gone to the extreme side of the left,” he says. He has voted, for the third consecutive election, for Donald Trump, because of the state of the economy. “To put it simply, four years ago I had more money in my pocket,” he adds.
The meaning of the Latino vote will be one of the unknowns of this election in Arizona. Victor, a 31-year-old car salesman, has voted for the first time as a US citizen. He is originally from El Salvador and has lived in Phoenix since 2011 after having lived in California and Tennessee. “This country belongs to everyone, even to the immigrants who have come to live here, and not just to a single race of people,” he points out. He claims to have voted for Kamala Harris to “save democracy” and thus avoid the deportations of immigrants that Donald Trump promises to carry out. “Expelling millions of people doesn’t solve anything, it will only break up families and leave children in cages,” he says.
