Board certifies special CD‑7 results, approves precinct boundary changes and creates a new justice precinct
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Summary
The board canvassed and certified the Sept. 23 special general election for Congressional District 7, approved establishment of new voting precincts and updated justice court precinct lines (including adding a justice precinct), and heard public concerns about early voting access and mail ballots.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously certified the results of the Sept. 23 special general election in Congressional District 7 and approved a set of voting‑precinct boundary changes, including the creation of a new justice court precinct to address caseload imbalances.
Scott Jarrett, director of elections, summarized the CD‑7 election: Maricopa County recorded 9,209 ballots cast, with approximately 80 percent returned by mail. The county used eight vote centers for the contest, phased opening was 27 days before election day, and adjudication and duplication numbers were small (44 adjudicated ballots; 24 duplicated ballots). The county reported zero reconciliation variances between check‑in records and tabulated ballots.
Public commenters raised concerns about early‑voting access and mail ballot practices. One speaker asked whether the county would implement one‑day, hand‑count elections; Jarrett and board members replied that current Arizona law requires early‑voting options and that changing to one‑day mail‑only or hand‑count models would require state law changes. Another commenter alleged disenfranchisement in small precincts that lacked an in‑person voting location; Jarrett explained the vote‑center model allows any voter to use any vote center during early voting and election day, and that only a few small precincts lacked a facility inside their boundaries but could still access vote centers elsewhere in the county.
Jarrett described upcoming elections logistics: an all‑mail county‑wide jurisdictional election will mail ballots to about 2.6 million registered voters; the registration deadline for that election is Oct. 6.
On precincts, Jarrett said the department recommended changes to 235 precincts for 2026 to reduce overly large precinct sizes (target under 5,000 voters), to remove empty voting precincts created during redistricting, to align precinct lines with justice court and DPS needs, and to avoid splitting city wards where practical. The board received public comment asking for greater in‑person outreach and local meetings; staff said they held five public meetings and engaged party chairs and city clerks.
The board approved the official canvas (item 100), the new voting precincts and boundary lines (item 101) effective Jan. 2, 2026, and justice court precinct changes including the creation of an additional justice precinct effective Jan. 1, 2026 (jurisdictional change for courts effective Jan. 1, 2027). All three votes were unanimous.
