Battleground Arizona: Democrats Cast 40% of Ballots, Republicans Cast 36%

Arizona Democrats are leading in the total number of ballots cast so far in the November election, comprising 40 percent of ballots returned in the state, according to election data last updated Tuesday.

Over 1.9 million Arizonians have already cast their ballot in the presidential election, according to the data last updated Tuesday — one week from the election. At that time, Democrats edged out Republicans, representing 39.7 of total ballots returned (or 787,173 ballots) to the GOP’s 35.6 percent (or 704,549). The October 27 update showed 3,353,533 ballots requested and 1,980,689 retuned. The U.S. Elections Projects clarifies that the Grand Canyon State “does not distinguish between mail ballots returned and in-person votes.”

Going into election day, Republicans hold an edge in terms of voter registration. The state reports 1,508,778 registered Republicans and 1,378,324 registered Democrats. Voters unaffiliated with either major party comprise 1,355,665 of the state’s 4,281,152 registered voters. Less than one percent of Arizona voters are registered as Libertarians.

Both President Donald Trump and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) held events across Arizona on Wednesday, though Trump’s events in Bullhead City and Goodyear drew more attendees than Harris’s, who held events in Tucson and Phoenix.

According to Republican National Committee (RNC) chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, 24 percent of those who signed up for Trump’s rally in Bullhead City were not Republicans. Similarly, 19.5 percent of signups for his Goodyear rally were not Republicans either. Many of those signing up for both rallies, she added, had not voted in 2016:

Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in Arizona by 3.5 percent.