There has been a steady stream of voters in Coconino County since polls opened early this morning. Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, election officials are anticipating a record turnout.
Voter registration is the highest it’s ever been in Coconino County. An estimated 80 percent of the nearly 82,000 registered voters are expected to cast ballots in the general election.
County Recorder Patty Hansen says wait times at the polls have been minimal despite the large numbers of voters. But there have been some problems reported at a few of the county’s 99 polling sites.
“We did get a little rough start at a couple of our polling places where we had the ballot counting equipment had some problems. I’ve heard that there’s some political party observers at the polling places but have not had any reports whatsoever of any problems,” says Hansen.
Hansen says the technical issues have been resolved. Coconino is the state’s largest county, much of it rural. Election officials even helicopter in voting machines to the Havasupai Tribe in the Grand Canyon where there are 129 registered voters.
Polls close tonight at 7. Unofficial results for Coconino County will be released at 8 o’clock.