TUCSON, Ariz. — The future of roads and transit in Pima County is in the hands of the voters as the deadline approaches to return RTA Special Election ballots.
Voters are deciding if they want to renew a 20-year half-cent sales tax to fund a $2.67 billion transportation plan.
The special election is a mail-in-only election using the county's new single-envelope return system, which was originally instituted in July 2025.
Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly says her office has gotten a few calls about this envelope system, with people concerned about privacy.
One Pima County resident wrote in to KGUN saying, “I must expose my signature and phone number and personal information contained in the bar code on the envelope if I want to vote.”
The single yellow return envelope has the voter's signature—and occasionally— phone number on the outside with the actual ballot inside.
Cázares-Kelly says they changed to this system for two reasons: to decrease confusion and to cut down on processing and tabulation time.
Now into her fifth year as recorder, Cázares-Kelly is no stranger to a special election.
“I’ve been in office for five years, and we have had special elections every single year," she said.
A recurring problem, she says, is "naked ballots," which are ballots "in a return envelope with the ballot and no way of identifying who that voter was."
Cázares-Kelly says over 700 people voted that way in the last election, which can make a huge difference in close elections, while taking some of the time off of the Recorder's Office jobs.
“The Recorder’s Office is responsible for signature verification of the ballot affidavits," she said. "We don’t open the ballot affidavit. We do not pull out the ballot. That’s a process that’s completely done by the elections department.”
The single envelope return system is used by jurisdictions across the country, including in Maricopa County.
While Cázares- Kelly says she understands concerns about privacy, she says “in order for bad actors to do anything significant with your private data, they need to have things that are protected by law—such as your full social security card number or your driver’s license number."
That's information that can't be obtained from an exposed signature and phone number.
However, if voters are uncomfortable sending their exposed signature through the mail, the Pima County Recorder's Office has several ballot drop boxes across the county.
Locations include:
- 6550 S Country Club Rd.
- 7820 E Broadway Blvd
- 6920 E Broadway Blvd
- 240 N Stone Ave (one drive up, one walk up)
