Maricopa County breaks ground on 200,000-square-foot tabulation and election center

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors officially broke ground on a 200,000-square-foot tabulation and election center that county staff said is intended to increase ballot-processing capacity and provide expanded transparency for voters.

County staff said the building will double the county’s pre‑tabulation processing and tabulation capacity and triple warehouse space, and is expected to open in summer 2027 in time for the 2028 election cycle.

"The board of supervisors officially broke ground on what will be a brand new state of the art tabulation and election center," Speaker 2, a Maricopa County staff member, said at the ceremony. Officials described the project as a response to county population growth and the need for more space and staff during election periods. "Our election facility needs to grow with the growth of our county. This allows more space for our workers, the workers that we have now, but also allow us to, hire more workers and have more volunteers," Speaker 1, a Maricopa County staff member, said, adding that expanding capacity could reduce the need for multiple shifts during tabulation.

When completed, county staff said, the facility will increase single‑shift capacity so more ballots can be processed in one shift. "Sometimes when we're trying to speed up tabulation, we need to do or shifts in order to make sure that we are getting enough done rather than just having the space to do it in 1 day shift. So we're very excited to be, in a space large enough to accommodate enough people in 1 shift to count ballots faster," Speaker 3, a Maricopa County staff member, said.

Officials emphasized public observation and recording features intended to increase transparency. "Along with faster results, Maricopa County's new tabulation and election center was designed to provide election transparency for voters," Speaker 2 said. "You'll have the ability to sit and observe. We're gonna have all these, high‑tech equipment to make sure that we're having everything videotaped and live streamed," Speaker 1 said. County staff said the second floor will house the full ballot flow, from signature verification through counting, and will include windows for public viewing.

"The Second Floor of the building will be the entire life of the ballot from signature verification all the way through it being counted. And there will be windows and the ability for members of the public to come and view us while we're working with those live ballots," Speaker 3 said.

At the event, one speaker framed the project as building on earlier transparency measures introduced by Chairman Galvin and Supervisor Lescow. "This building provides the foundation for the transparency measures that were introduced by chairman Galvin and supervisor Lescow, which I wholeheartedly support," Speaker 4, a Maricopa County staff member, said.

County staff said the facility is expected to open in summer 2027 in time for the 2028 election cycle.