Early voting begins in Arizona for 2024 general election

The general election is officially underway after early voting began in Arizona on Wednesday, with first-day numbers down slightly from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic drove historic turnout.

The big picture: All eyes are on Arizona, one of several swing states that could determine the presidency.

• Republican and Democratic vice presidential candidates Sen. J.D. Vance and Gov. Tim Walz both visited the Valley on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris will be here Thursday, and former President Trump will rally in Prescott Valley on Sunday.

By the numbers: 1,783 voters checked in at vote centers in Maricopa County Wednesday, according to the county recorder's office.

• Theoretically, voters could check in and leave before casting ballots, but counter recorder's office spokesperson Jennifer Liewer said that's rare.
• Of the 12 vote centers open for in-person voting, the busiest was at Surprise City Hall.
• Thirty people were waiting when it opened at 9am, the most of any vote center, and 373 checked in voted there throughout the day, according to Liewer.

Catch up quick: In 2020 , Maricopa County saw more than 2,900 people cast ballots on the first day of early voting, a nearly threefold increase from the 847 first-day voters in 2016.

• Turnout in presidential election years is far greater than in midterms.

State of play: At the vote center at Arizona State University's West Valley Campus, about a half dozen people were waiting when a poll worker rang a bell to signal the start of early voting, and a steady stream of people trickled in throughout the first hour.

• "I've been waiting," said 63-year-old north Phoenix resident Cecilia Trejo, who told Axios she was the first person in line at ASU West and that she votes on the first day of early voting every election.
• "I want to get it over with, put my vote in early," said Bruce Hartman, a 71-year-year-old retiree and Phoenix resident. "This way I know it will be counted."
• Laura Haynes, a Phoenix who described herself as a homemaker, said she voted on the first day because something could happen later that would make it difficult, citing the hurricanes on the East Coast , the possibility of cyberattacks and printer problems that plagued Election Day voting in 2022.

Zoom in: For the first time since 2006, Maricopa County's ballot is so long it requires two pieces of paper.

• Rowena Tank, a retired beadmaker and glassblower who lives in Phoenix, was at the ASU West vote center when it opened, and didn't leave until about 40 minutes later after filling out the full ballot, including judges and ballot propositions.

Catch up quick: President Biden in 2020 became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Arizona since 1996, and only the second since 1948.