On Oct. 9, election officials will mail more than 470,000 ballots to voters in Pima County to begin voting in the Nov. 5 general election.

Officials expect a large turnout as the presidential race is at the top of the list.

“This is when everyone goes to the polls,” said Jeremy George, Pima County deputy elections director.

Here are seven things Pima County should know before the Nov. 5 election.

1. There will be a two-ticket vote in Pima County

This year’s election process is lengthy. Pima County voters can participate in more than 30 races for elected office (including judges), including not only the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, but also the U.S. Senate election between Democrat Ruben Gallego and the Republican Kari Lake and the candidates in various congressional, county and state legislative elections. In addition, there are 13 statewide proposals on current issues such as abortion, immigration and election reform, as well as a few local proposals in some suburbs and school districts.

There are so many choices for Pima County voters that they will have to wade through a four-page ballot with candidates for office on the first page of the first map, while proposals will appear on the second page of the first map and on both sides of that second card.

“This is something completely new in Pima County,” George said. “It’s brand new to a lot of different counties across the state.”

Pima County Supervisor of Elections Constance Hargrove urged voters to be sure to return both cards if they cast their vote by mail or to deliver them to county clerks by other means.

“If someone returns just one card, we have to count it for that voter,” Hargrove said.

2. Verify your registration

Because election officials are required by state law to check voter registration lists, the total number of voters in Arizona fell by more than 100,000 between summer 2023 and January 2024.

Some of those voters were people who moved or died, but there are also inactive voters who haven’t voted or responded to election officials reporting their registration in years. (Protect Democracy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to voting rights, estimates that about 724,000 unique voter registration records were removed from voter rolls nationwide between the 2020 presidential election and August 2024, representing 21 percent of those records; about 1 million other voters did so has been moved to inactive status according to Protect Democacy’s analysis.)

To make sure you are up to date, check your registration on the Pima County Recorder’s Office website or the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office website.

If you have never registered or need to update your listing, you can do so at servicearizona.com.

The deadline to register to vote or update your registration is midnight on Monday, October 7th.

3. How to get early voting in Pima County

According to Mike Truelsen, spokesman for the Pima County Recorder’s Office, more than 470,000 voters were already registered on the Active Early Voter List (AEVL) as of last week.

If you’re not included – or want to make sure your name hasn’t been removed from the list – visit the Pima County Recorder’s Office website to add your name or call 520-724-4330. If you do so soon, you will be among the voters who will have a ballot mailed to you on Wednesday, October 9th. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is Friday, October 25th.

Pima County Clerk Gabriella Cazares-Kelly is urging voters to mail in completed ballots by Oct. 29 because election officials need to have them in hand by 7 p.m. on Election Day to count them. If you do not mail it by then, we recommend that you instead drop it off at an early voting location before November 5 or at a vote center on Election Day.

If you vote by mail, the Pima County Recorder’s Office team will need to verify your signature. For this reason, election officials urge you to return your ballot before Election Day to avoid delays in counting ballots while your ballot goes through the verification process.

4. How to vote in person on Election Day

In 2022, Pima County moved from precinct-based elections – which required voters to cast their ballot at a specific polling location in their county – to more than 100 vote centers spread throughout the community. With electronic poll books and printed ballots, voters who prefer the traditional method of voting in person can cast their ballot at any of the 126 vote centers the county plans to open. For more information about polling locations, visit Pima.Vote. According to county election officials, you can even find out how long you’ll have to wait in line at a voting booth there.

Speaking of possible waits, election officials say they plan to set up more voting booths, printers and other equipment to avoid long lines at polling places. The vast majority of general election voters voted early — in 2020, about six months after the COVID-19 outbreak, 87 percent voted early, and in 2022 it was 82 percent — but election officials want to avoid trouble for those who do Those who do this want to make it personal.

However, they are advising voters to take a look at a sample ballot before arriving at the polling station because there are so many decisions to be made this year.

“Make a plan, be prepared, and everything will go a lot easier on Election Day,” George said.

If you vote in person, you will be required to show one or two photo IDs. If you are unable to do this, you can cast a provisional vote. However, you must provide proof of your identity to the Pima County Recorder’s Office within five days of the election or your vote will not be counted.

Voters are allowed to bring a sample ballot or bills to the voting booth and can take as long as they want to cast their vote.

5. Here’s how to vote in person before November 5th

The Pima County Recorder’s Office will set up early voting sites in October. Starting Oct. 9, you can vote at the county elections office at 240 N. Stone Ave. and 6550 S. Country Club Rd. and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fellowship Bible Church, 6700 E. Broadway. Voters can drop off early ballots at the Recorder’s East Side office, 6920 E. Broadway. Starting October 21, additional early voting locations will open at local libraries and community centers. A complete list can be found here.

6. What is a federal voter?

Arizona is the only state that requires voters to prove their citizenship before voting. But this violates federal law, which requires states to accept a standard federal voter registration form that requires voters to certify that they are citizens, but not to provide proof.

To resolve a dispute over the issue, Arizona agreed to create a new class of “federal only” voters who filled out the federal registration form but did not subsequently prove their citizenship. You can only vote for president and candidates for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives in federal elections.

A Votebeat analysis found that the state’s all-federal voters were likely younger voters who lived near college campuses.

According to Truelsen, the number of all-federal voters in Pima County was 7,600 as of Monday, Sept. 23. You can check to see if you’re included — and find out how to provide proof of citizenship so you can vote for anything on the ballot — on the Pima County Recorder’s Office website or the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office website.

7. More information?

Pima County’s central website for your election-related questions is Pima.Vote.