Community

County recorder’s advice for potential candidates

Apr 5, 2010

Pinal County Recorder Laura Dean-Lytle is offering some advice for office seekers and information for people who want to vote early.

“In their effort to verify petition signatures, the county elections department sometimes runs into petitions that are incorrectly filled out and that’s a shame,” Dean-Lytle said. “The candidates work a lot of hours with volunteers to get these signatures so they can get on the ballot, and it’s hard to tell them that they don’t have enough signatures because of errors.”

Dean-Lytle said potential candidates should follow these tips to help them get on the ballot:
· Registered voters with a political affiliation of Independent, No Party Claimed or listed as a member of a political party other than Democrat, Republican or Libertarian can sign any nomination petitions in support of a candidate.
· Democrats, Republicans and Libertarian voters must sign their party-specific nomination petitions.
· When signing petitions, it is important for the registered voter to use their home address on the petitions, not a mailing address.
· The person gathering the petition must sign on the back of the petition to verify they are legally qualified to seek signatures for the candidate.
· While it may take some time, a candidate or committee should work to verify that they have enough valid signatures on their nominating petitions.

“If candidates and their committees follow these simple rules, it makes it easier for us to verify them for a place on the ballot,” Dean-Lytle said.

Voters who have signed up for the Permanent Early Voter List will soon receive a 120-day notice reminding them of the Primary Election on Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010.

“Any voter on this list who is not a member of the Republican, Libertarian or Democratic parties will have to select what political ballot they wish to receive and return the notice with that information so they will receive a ballot for that election,” the county recorder stressed. “Also, if you will be out of the state for the Aug. 24 election, please notify our voter registration office of your temporary address so we can mail your ballot to you.”

Voters who will be out of the state for the Aug. 24 election can call the Voter Registration Department at 520-866-6858 to give them a temporary address. Voters can also write to the department at: P.O. Box 848, Florence, AZ 85132.

The U.S. Post Office will not forward ballots. If the post office is still forwarding your mail when the ballots are mailed on or about Aug. 1, that ballot will be returned to the Pinal County Recorder’s office. The ballots will be mailed approximately the first week of August.

For more information on early voting or election questions, call the Pinal County Citizen’s Contact Center at 520-509-3555 or visit the county’s website.