Vote

I realize that many folks have already voted, and to them, I say "thank you!"

This is for those who have yet to vote or will drop off their early ballots at a polling place on Tuesday.

Vote like your future depends on it.  It does.

Vote like your children's' future depends on it.  It does.

Vote like your grandparent's future depends on it.  It does.

Vote in such large numbers so that the inevitable cheating doesn't make a difference in the outcome.

from Maricopa County Elections

I suggest not expecting immediate perfection after voting.  If things go with the election as many expect, Cheeto and his acolytes will still control the White House and the US Supreme Court.  The grift will continue.

It will take years, if not decades, to undo some of the damage to society that's already been done; some of the damage may never be fixed (i.e. - DOJ/FBI has absolutely NO credibility left at this point).

Democracy is not a "fire it up a forget it" kind of operation.  It's has to be watched, coddled, even babied. And adjusted, if necessary.

In other words, democracy isn't for lazy people.

I'm a Democrat (shocking, I know 😀 ), but I will almost always vote for the better human being in any race (thank Kyrsten Sinema for that "almost" - I voted for her in 2018 under my "better human being" rule. but I had to hold my nose to do so.  She turned out to be so bad that even before she changed her registration to independent/non-affiliated that I would have skipped the race if she was the 2024 D nominee for US Senate).

Vote for people based on personal character, not professed ideology.  No one will be perfect, but elected officials are public employees, and it's better that they be good people

I've actually voted for Rs in the past when considered them to the better choice; one of the reasons that I'm a D is that I believe there are more decent people among the Ds (both candidates and activists) than there are among the Rs.

That characterization is not quite unequivocal, though.

Caveat: I've already voted by mail.

Statewide Ballot questions

There were 13 statewide questions in total on this year's ballot in AZ; 11 were referred by the Republicans in the legislature, two were referred by the people.

Eight failed - seven legislative questions, and one from the people

There were five election related questions; all failed, including the one intended to remove retention elections for judges.

It failed spectacularly, with more than 75% of voters voting it down.

One that passed: Proposition 139, amending the state's constitution to protect access to abortion which passed by more than 550,000 votes/21 percentage points.

It's not ALL bad news: most school district-related ballot questions passed

...At least in Maricopa County.  I didn't look at the other counties in AZ.

There were 40 school district questions here; 31 passed.  That's more than 75%.

Note: All listed vote totals are current; the totals will change as late ballots are counted.  However, none of them look close enough for the outcome to change.

The State Senate membership may be tied*

* = There's a rather big caveat: If current results hold up.  A couple of the districts that currently favor the Democratic candidate are very close.  One of them is verrrryyyyy close.

As results currently stand, the Senate would be tied 15-15.

However, two of the districts may change -

As things stand right now, the House will have 32 Republican members and 28 Democratic ones, though a couple of those races are close enough to change.

However, the biggest upset may have been in the Senate - former legislator Vince Leach lost his race in LD17 to Democrat John McLean.

Election Results 2024 - 3rd numbers

First and foremost, I want to thanks each and every person who helped to run a polling site or to count ballots.  I may not like some of the results, but I know this -

Democracy doesn't work without you.

Going forward, certain races will be dropped off this list as the outcome in that race seems given.  The vote totals may change but the outcome probably won't.

Election Results 2024 - 2nd numbers

 

Election Results 2024 - 1st numbers

Election Results 2024

When the Arizona Secretary of State and the Maricopa County Recorder post initial results, I'll post some of them here.  Those initial results will only be early ballots, and unless the total overwhelmingly favors one side, races won't be called by the MSM.

A few caveats:

1. They'll be AZ results only.

2. The list of races covered will NOT be comprehensive.  If readers want one added, particularly statewide or in Maricopa County, please leave a comment.

3. No state legislative races will be covered, but that may change as listed races go clearly in one direction or the and drop off my list.

4. My intent is to do an initial report and at or just after 9 (if totals change significantly) and the go to bed and pick it up tomorrow.

5. Reality may intercede and change any of this.

A pic guaranteed to tick off election deniers

A state supreme court rebuffs R efforts to stop making voting easier

And no, it wasn't in Arizona.

From NBC, dated 7/11/2022 -

Massachusetts high court rejects GOP effort to block voting rights reforms

Massachusetts voters will be allowed to use the state’s expanded early and mail-in voting rules in the state’s September primary, the state’s highest court ruled Monday.

An order by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court effectively blocked an effort by Republicans in the state who had sought to stop the new voting rules — the main feature of a law enacted last month called the VOTES Act — from going into effect.

I noticed two things when reading this:

1. This ruling came from a court that wasn't packed by Ducey and his ilk.

2. In Massachusetts, the state's supreme court is referred to as the Supreme *Judicial* Court.

This seemed a little redundant to me, as I thought all courts were judicial ones.  Except basketball courts, which will be confused with courts of law.

Turns out, I was wrong (it happens  Just not often. :) ).

In Massachusetts, the legislature is referred to as the "General" Court.

From the website of the Massachusetts Legislature -

Jeez, and readers thought this was only a political blog - you can add to your knowledge here.

This may be something Cheeto won't talk about when he's here

 

He'll be here July 24th.

From US News & World Report -

AP: Few AZ Voter Fraud Cases, Discrediting Trump's Claims

Arizona county election officials have identified fewer than 200 cases of potential voter fraud out of more than 3 million ballots cast in last year's presidential election, further discrediting former President Donald Trump's claims of a stolen election as his allies continue a disputed ballot review in the state's most populous county.