Arizonans Want Elections That Are Accurate, Fair and Accessible — Not Faster

Survey Shows Broad Agreement on What Makes a Good Election

A new statewide survey reveals something surprising about Arizona voters. Across political lines, Arizonans agree on what matters most when it comes to elections. They want accuracy, trustworthiness and transparency. They do not want speed.

The Center for the Future of Arizona commissioned the poll. Noble Predictive Insights conducted the research among 1,136 Arizona adults. The study found overwhelming consensus on fundamental election values.

97% of Arizonans across political lines believe that fair and secure elections are essential to a healthy democracy

That is the highest level of agreement the center has seen in two decades of public opinion research.

Speed Is Not a Priority

Despite years of criticism from Republicans and national politicians about Arizona taking too long to count ballots, speed does not rank high with voters. Only 44% of Arizonans believe delivering election results more quickly is essential.

87% of respondents said that delivering election results more quickly is important

But that trailed other priorities. Ensuring every ballot is counted accurately, making sure election administrators are trustworthy, and keeping election processes transparent and observable all ranked higher.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes addressed why the speed debate persists. He said widespread misunderstandings about how quickly ballots are counted in the state have contributed to distrust among some groups.

The biggest problem we have in the speed question is that very few people are making the distinction between network predictions and election results

Fontes pointed out that controversial election calls like Fox News deciding to call the 2020 presidential election in Arizona against President Donald Trump are made by media organizations. Those calls have no bearing on the speed at which election workers actually count ballots in counties across the state.

Voting By Mail Stays Strong

Mail-in voting remains a cornerstone of Arizona elections. The survey found 81% of Arizonans want to keep their option to vote by mail.

In 2024, 81% of ballots in Arizona were cast using returned mail-in ballots. That is a supermajority that includes majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independent Arizonans.

Convenience Trumps Speed

Seven out of 10 Arizonans prefer preserving their option to drop off their early ballot up to and on election day. Voters would accept slower reporting of results in exchange for that convenience.

Maricopa County Elections director Scott Jarrett compared midnight on election night to the third quarter of the Super Bowl because there are still ballots left to count. He said margins are much closer in recent cycles so people do not know the results.

What has changed is the margins are much closer so people do not know the results

For instance Governor Katie Hobbs won election by less than 1% in 2022 in a race that media organizations did not call for six days. State officials certified her victory 27 days after Election Day.

In 2014 when former Governor Doug Ducey won by nearly 12% media outlets called the election for Ducey early on election night but it still took state officials 27 days to certify his win.

Trust Divides Along Party Lines

The survey found less agreement on whether Arizonans should trust election officials. Fifty-one percent of Republicans said they can trust local and state officials to ensure elections are conducted fairly accurately and securely.

80% of Democrats and 70% of independents said they trust election officials

State election officials have considered why that divide exists at an event at Arizona State University.

Funding Is a Concern

Election officials suggested several ways lawmakers could support counties to fulfill Arizonans top priorities. The survey found 87% of respondents support increasing funding for election improvements like hiring more workers upgrading equipment and improving vote counting.

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines called on the Legislature to standardize funding across the state to provide counties with consistent and predictable funding to run elections.

If we standardized across the state with equal appropriation based on a per capita ratio then we can ensure that we have efficient elections

Currently counties bear most of the cost of elections. The amount of financial assistance counties receive from the state and federal governments is unpredictable.

Last year the GOP-controlled Legislature gave Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap and Yuma County Recorder David Lara millions in funding for elections. Lawmakers did not provide equal funding to the states other 13 counties.

Accuracy Is Essential

The survey found 96% of respondents said accuracy is important for elections and 79% listed it as essential.

76% including 72% of Republicans 83% of Democrats and 74% of independents would support a small increase in state taxes to pay for election improvements

The good elections survey was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights. The study has a plus or minus 2.9% margin of error.

Dr. Sybil Francis who leads the Center for the Future of Arizona said the survey found high levels of trust between voters and local and state officials.

When we continue to prove that elections are safe and secure it is a bit puzzling frustrating for our election officials to still see the lack of trust among some

Francis said the findings clearly showed a strong majority of Arizonans trust elections and in particular trust local election workers.

The survey highlighted that roughly 81% of Arizonans want to continue to be able to vote by mail and on top of that about 81% of Arizona voters vote by mail.

What Arizonans Say Matters

According to Bill Gates Executive Director of the ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory many Arizonans described a good election as one that includes accuracy transparency and convenience in elections.

Those I think are three very important items and certainly that is what we saw in the data

Francis said the good elections project is trying to step back from all the political and heated debate around elections. She likes to ask Arizonans what they think about important issues.

The survey also found 88% of Arizonans say misinformation is a threat to elections. That includes 85% of Republicans 92% of Democrats and 90% of independents.

We know that we agree on much more than we disagree

Francis said Arizonans are clear on what they want from elections. The center hopes the findings will inform policy debates as Arizona approaches the 2026 election cycle.