Election Day voting began in Maricopa County on Nov. 3 at 6 a.m., and officials reported that all locations opened on time and with no issues.
The Copper Courier team visited polling locations in Phoenix and Tempe throughout the day to document what was happening and speak with voters, volunteers, and candidates.
Here’s a look into what we saw throughout the day:
6 a.m. — Newsletter Editor Jessica Swarner
A little after polls opened at 6 a.m., I arrived at the voting center at the Osborn Elementary School District Office in Phoenix. A steady stream of cars was coming in and out of the parking lot, but a line never formed at the entrance. Some voters arrived with their green early ballots in hand, while others came to cast their ballot in person.
I didn’t have much luck with interviewing voters, so I drove over to the polling center on Arizona State University’s downtown campus. There was a little more activity there, but I only saw a line form once, and it quickly dissipated.
I spoke with Phoenix resident George Galliher III, 70, who was standing outside of the polls to campaign for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat. He said he dropped off his ballot and used Arizona’s new voting option that allows voters to show their ID so their ballot is counted faster, versus going through the normal signature verification process. When asked what issues were motivating his vote, he named a handful, including housing, healthcare, and nutrition. He emphasized the role that state officials play in Arizonans’ day-to-day life and said that inspired him to get involved in this midterm election.
I also spoke with Lily Willette, a 20-year-old Phoenix resident, who was volunteering with Election Protection to monitor the polling site and make sure everyone could vote safely. Willette voted in person and said it’s important for everyone’s voice to be represented in the government.
As of 9 a.m., over 40,000 voters had been served at Maricopa County’s voting centers.
9:30 a.m. — Political Correspondent Sahara Sajjadi
At 9:30 a.m., I went to the Ability360 voting center in Phoenix to speak with some local voters about the top issues driving them to the polls this election cycle. While there was a steady (albeit slow) stream of voters, I didn’t have much luck at first, as most voters didn’t want to be on camera at 9 in the morning (which makes sense!)
My first conversation was with a man named Fadi, who preferred to speak off camera, and said his top voting concern this cycle was the Iran war. Fadi grew up in Amman, Jordan, and said he’s seen the effects of war firsthand. When he found out I was Iranian, he empathized with me and said, “We’re neighbors. We know how much Iranians have suffered under the Khamenei regime and now the war.”
An immigrant turned naturalized citizen, Fadi said he was worried about actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration—notably with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—along with foreign affairs, including money sent to Israel.
Afterward, I spoke with Moon Hagdu, a Phoenix-area voter, who told me she’s worried about where her taxpayer dollars go. She said she’d prefer Arizona spend money on healthcare and better school funding, and urged fellow Arizonans to get out there and vote.
Heather Magdelano, a mother of two children with disabilities, told me she’s voting for her children’s future, and expressed concern about Medicaid cuts under Trump.
My last conversation was with Jack Allen. He told me he’s voting today to “get Republicans out,” and told me he has friends who have been personally affected by ICE in Arizona. Along with that, his top issues include affordability, both for groceries and housing. He said the price of rent is just so high, and he isn’t sure if he will ever be a homeowner as prices increase.
I wasn’t alone at the polls! I was there with a Maricopa County election monitor, too, who was extremely kind and kept checking in with me, asking, “Did you talk to anyone? Did you get anyone?” He kept me accountable! I also spoke with Jane Anderson, the Arizona state director for Mormon Women for Ethical Government, a nonpartisan nonprofit, who was serving as a poll watcher. She was keeping an eye out for any potential mischief, of which, thankfully, there was none.
9:30 a.m. — Political Correspondent Kyle Sekenski
I got to the ASU Tempe campus at 9:30 a.m. and spoke not only with student voters, but also candidates, public officials helping to campaign for their parties, and anyone else who was there.
The polling location was in one of the basketball gyms in the Sun Devil Fitness Complex on the south side of campus. There was no line to vote, though there were voters going in and out of the polling place. I was there during the mid-morning when students would generally be in class, which explained the lack of a line.
There were a number of advocate organizations with tables set up outside the polling place. I spoke to one advocate wearing a voter sticker, Cameron Bautista, who was with the student political outreach group Keep Arizona Blue Voter Coalition. He talked about the importance of engaging with college-aged voters to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to them.
I also saw US Rep. Greg Stanton and US Sen. Ruben Gallego there as well, but I didn’t get the chance to speak to them before they had to leave. I did interview state Sen. Lauren Kuby, however, who came right up to me. She wanted to talk about the issues her constituents are most concerned about, and the importance of having patience to wait for election results to come in.
I tried to speak to a few small groups of students who had voted and were standing around chatting, but they weren’t interested in talking. I finally did get to speak with one voter, though—Owen Washburn, who had an interesting perspective from
7 p.m. — Political Correspondent Sahara Sajjadi
I spent the night at the Arizona Democratic Party’s Election Day watch party at the Hilton where we heard from scores of elected officials who were celebrating Democratic sweeps across the country, including right here in Arizona!
In the parking lot, I immediately ran into my old-coworker, so the night started off strong! Then I had to navigate inside the ballroom, which was filled with reporters, huge news cameras, and a lot of journalists doing the same thing just for a different media platform.
I filmed whatever I thought was pertinent and would do well on our social media. I was also posting our story in real time so viewers could feel included, too. I went live during US Sen. Mark Kelly’s speech but there weren’t too many viewers, so I ended it. It really takes a toll on your arms to hold a phone camera up all night, so shoutout to broadcast people, who have to hold a huge camera!
I filmed crowd reactions, speakers, and for my own benefit, I took selfies with my friends! I ran into Morgan Fischer from the Phoenix New Times and TJ L’Heureux from the Arizona Agenda, who were also there reporting!
My first interview of the night was with US Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz), and I asked him how he was feeling. Being chronically online, I was able to break the news to him that Democrats swiftly regained control of the US House, and asked him what he believes Democrats should prioritize with a majority.
“Whatever we could do to bring costs down,” Gallego said. “Housing costs, whether it’s food by getting rid of these tariffs, whether it’s housing by trying to make more investments to bring affordable housing, energy to regulate these data centers.”
He also said he liked my pink bedazzled mic, in case you were wondering.
At the same time as posting on our stories, recording, and interviewing elected officials, I was also aggressively scrolling Twitter (I have Gen-Z brain). That meant I knew about Democratic wins across the country before most people at the party. I told a few people about James Talarico’s win in Texas, and nobody believed me! Right behind me, the screen confirmed it, and everyone was aghast. Later, I was standing next to a comms person who’s worked closely on Gov. Katie Hobbs’ campaign when I saw that Decision Desk called it for Hobbs. I ran over to show him and he was cautiously optimistic. Most people are, as they typically wait for AP results, which take slightly longer! As a journalist, I LOVE breaking news to people. My favorite part of the night was being the first to tell everyone “_____ WON!”
The crowd cheered when seeing a lot of results across the country, including Gina Hinojosa’s gubernatorial win in Texas and Abdul El-Sayed’s lead (and later win) in the Michigan Senate race.
During the event, we heard from Hobbs, Attorney General Kris Mayes, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Charlene Fernandez, state Rep. Oscar De Los Santos, Amish Shah, and a lot more. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and joy as the first batch of election results showed Democrats had a strong lead.
At the same time, we were working on the back end to verify key races called and posting them on Instagram! Jess, our newsletter editor, would flag it and update our web story accordingly, and the Instagram graphics went live quickly, too. My brain was truly on overdrive. During lulls, I’d clip videos and send them to our design team, write captions, and most importantly, fix my lipgloss. (I use Morphe’s Deep Brick gloss, which has unfortunately been discontinued, I’m sorry to say. I also used the Whipped Soulmatte lipliner by Morphe, which, to my dismay, has also been discontinued.)
Later in the night, I interviewed US Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Phoenix) and asked her the same question I asked Gallego—what should Democrats do now that they have control of the US Congress? She said a top priority should be investigating the Trump administration’s “corruption,” improving Medicaid access, and bringing down the cost of living.
“This is a big, big opportunity for us to make real changes and enact real policies that are going to make lives better for Arizonans and for Americans,” Ansari said.
A few more people spoke, and by 11:30 p.m., the ballroom had cleared out. I was sleepy, so I said goodbyes to the (many!) people I knew and headed to my car. I got home around 12 a.m., sent some final videos to our social media team, and fell into a deep slumber.
‘Til next time!
Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional updates on Nov. 4 at 1:05 p.m.
