Votes trickling in during primary election

UPDATE: An official with the Pinal County Elections Department is stating the delay in posting the unofficial results of today’s primary election is due to a polling machine malfunction, which has since been resolved. They expect to post Maricopa’s voting numbers within 15-20 minutes.

“If you don’t vote, then you can’t complain.”

That was the statement made by Maricopa resident Theresa Farley after casting her ballot in the Maricopa Primary election at 1 p.m. today.

Farley is one of about 300 residents who fought through the morning weather to polling places across the city to cast their ballots.

“I almost forgot until I checked my Facebook,” Farley said.

While Farley has lived in Maricopa for five years and voted at every possible opportunity, it isn’t just long-time residents like her making sure their voices are heard.

Stephanie Loutzenheisur has lived in Maricopa for only six months, but she said during that time she got to know several of the candidates and decided to vote.

“It is about doing what is best for the community,” she added.

While the number of people actually casting their ballots in person has been somewhat slow, the number of mail-in ballots has been encouraging.

The county sent out 4,285 ballots and received 1,625 back. “It is a nice number but we would like to see more sent back in,” said county recorder Laura Dean-Lytle.

Candidates who do not receive the required 50 percent plus one of the total vote will move on to a runoff on May 18, with only the top two vote getters for each of the seats moving forward.

Staff photo