TUCSON, Ariz. - It's the day before an especially high-stakes midterm election with races that could change the balance of power in the U.S. House and Senate.
The political parties are pushing to make sure their voters get out and vote---and how to make sure you have the right information to be able to vote.
The Pima County Elections Office is already busy counting a flood of early ballots. It's a team effort with members of each party cross-checking each other to help assure you there's an honest count.
If you're worried about someone hacking the election you ought to know that in Pima County all the ballots are on paper except for a few touch screens that might be used for people with handicaps like a vision problem. And none of that voting data goes out on the internet. Everything is hand carried in here to the election central. This is where it's verified and then it goes to the counting machine."
A lot of people went for early voting. Now both political parties are working to reach people who have not voted yet---and urging their voters to get the polls.
“This is not a typical midterm,” says Jo Holt, Chair of the Pima County Democratic Party. “This is more like a presidential election that we are experiencing here. Very much so because just in terms of the volume of volunteers that we have, in the volume of phone calls, that we're getting good hits on our website that type of thing."
Republicans have been feeling the same urgency to bring out their voters. Because early voting has become so popular, Pima County Republican Party Chair David Eppiheimer says campaigns roared up to full speed weeks before these final hours.
“It's no longer election day tomorrow. Tomorrow's the last day to vote which is entirely different than Election Day; and so people have been voting for a month and it changes the entire nature I mean that's why we've been in the inundated with commercials for a month.”
Pima County's Elections Department will not reveal early vote totals until the polls close.
To be sure you can vote Tuesday, you'll need your voter card and a government photo ID that shows your address.
"If you don't have any photo ID, you can actually bring two pieces of non-photo ID,” says Pima Elections Director Brad Nelson. “You can bring a utility bill to that address that's known on their voter registration file along with the cable TV bill. So there's a variety of things that we can be brought: an automobile registry with that address on it can also be brought. So two pieces of non-photo ID or one piece of state-issued photo ID"
If you've had a recent address change you may still be able to vote but on a provisional ballot. In that case voting officials will do some additional checking to decide if the vote is valid.
