‘Late early ballots’ break in favor of Republicans this year

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Last-minute ballots helped some Republican candidates and conservative causes surge to victory after Election Night, reversing the historical trend of late-counted ballots favoring Arizona Democrats.

GOP-leads grew in several races well after November 8 as election officials spent days or more counting vote-by-mail, or early ballots, which had been turned in at election offices and polls at the last possible moment. Those “late-early ballots” typically favor Democrats, who have in the past used vigorous get out the vote campaigns that included offers to deliver ballots to post offices or election headquarters on behalf of voters.

The tactic of so-called “ballot harvesting” was banned by the Arizona Legislature earlier this year, and perhaps had some depression on Democratic voter turnout. But more so, it was a last-minute push by Republican voters, many of whom held onto their votes as long as they could before delivering their ballots with little time to spare, according to campaign consultants.

“This year, I actually think Republicans did better, or at least less bad than Democrats did,” said George Khalaf, a GOP pollster with Data Orbital. “Late-early ballots definitely favored, 100 percent, Republicans.”

Read the whole story at AZ Capitol Times

Corrie O'Connor