Secretary of State certifies AZ primary election results, recounts incoming

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes has certified Arizona’s primary election results, signing and sealing them over YouTube livestream today.

“I will certify the results as reflecting the true will of the Arizona voters in the 2024 primary election,” Fontes said.

According to Fontes, over 1.2 million votes were counted, representing about 31% of Arizona registered voters, a lower turnout than in subsequent years.

Number of voters by county:

Apache County: 15,540 voters

Cochise County: 26,652 voters

Coconino County: 26,263 voters

Gila County: 14,273 voters

Graham County: 6,924 voters

Greenlee County: 1,306 voters

La Paz County: 3,127 voters

Maricopa County: 734,959 voters

Mohave County: 35,300 voters

Navajo County: 22,610 voters

Pima County: 197,014 voters

Pinal County: 77,123 voters

Santa Cruz County: 7,840 voters

Yavapai County: 76,026 voters

Yuma County: 21,792 voters

In Arizona, an automatic recount is triggered when the margin of victory in an election is less than or equal to 0.5% of the total votes cast. However, Congressional District 3 has fallen into this category and a recount will commence today, according to Fontes.

In the race for the U.S. Representative in Congress for CD 3, Democratic candidate Yassamin Ansari won the Democratic primary by only 42 votes over her opponent Raquel Terán, according to the unofficial results posted by the Secretary of State’s Office.

Ansari served previously as the vice mayor of Phoenix and as a council woman. According to her campaign website, her priorities include restoring reproductive rights, protecting democracy, taking action against climate change, creating affordable housing and reducing homelessness, strengthening unions, increasing the federal minimum wage, immigration reform and ensuring access to education.

Terán, a former state senator, has similar priorities to Ansari, but stands out in advocating for expanding access to healthcare, preventing gun violence and criminal justice reform.

“We are just 42 votes behind, and we’re entering into a recount process,” reads a post on X from Terán. “Especially in Arizona, we know that Democracy is worth waiting for, and it is critical that every vote is counted. No matter the outcome, I look forward to continuing our work to create a brighter future for everyone in AZ-03.”

Ansari also showed support for a recount of the race.

“While we are confident this lead will hold, it is important to let the vote-counting process fully play out through an automatic recount and we welcome the process ahead,” reads a post on X from Ansari. “We look forward to working with Maricopa County and the Attorney General’s office to ensure a smooth process going forward. Every vote matters and I’d like to thank the hard working election workers committed to counting every vote. They make democracy work.”

Several other county and local races triggered the state's recount law.

According to Fontes, the recount should be concluded and the results announced early next week.

He also pointed out that there is likely to be an influx in voter registration leading up to the deadline of Oct. 7. He also said that it is very normal for this influx to happen and is in no way “nefarious.”

“Please stay vigilant and rely only on trusted sources for information,” Fontes said. “Our democracy is robust, our state is resilient and my commitment to making sure every vote counts is unwavering.”

The primary election results can be found at arizona.vote.