VOTER GUIDE: What to know about Arizona's 2026 election

PHOENIX — Election Day is Nov. 3, and Arizona voters decide on big statewide races for governor, secretary of state and attorney general, as well as U.S. House representatives.

Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 general election:

Key election dates 

• Sept. 19: Military and overseas ballots mailed
• Oct. 5: Last day to register to vote
• Oct. 7: First day of early voting and ballots are mailed to voters
• Oct. 23: Last day to request a replacement ballot by mail
• Oct. 27: Last day to mail back your ballot
• Nov. 3: Election Day
• Nov. 9: First day to canvass election returns
• Nov. 19: Deadline for the Board of Supervisors to canvass returns

How early voting works 

Arizona voters can vote early by mail or in person starting Oct. 7. People on the Active Early Voting List or who have requested a mail ballot will receive their ballot in the mail.

Maricopa County voters who aren’t on the AEVL can request a ballot online until Oct. 23. Ballots can’t be forwarded, so you can also request a ballot if you need one sent to a temporary address.

You can return your ballot by mail or drop it off at a drop box or early voting location. If you send it, be sure to drop your ballot in the mail by Oct. 27.

Be sure to sign your green affidavit envelope and include your phone number so election officials can contact you if needed. Your signature will be compared to the signatures in your voter file. If your signature doesn’t match, you’ll have five business days to verify your signature. That’s when the phone number comes in handy – election officials will reach out to you to “cure” your ballot.

If you forget to sign your mail ballot, you will need to add your signature no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Starting this year, early voters who drop off their mail ballot at a voting location can skip the time-consuming signature verification process by checking in and showing valid ID. You can find a list of acceptable ID on the county's website.

How to track your ballot

Maricopa County voters can keep track of their ballot with notifications for when it’s prepared, mailed, received, verified and counted. People who cast votes in person can also get alerts for when they cast their ballot. Text “JOIN” to 628-683 or sign up on BeBallotReady.Vote.

How voting on Election Day works 

Election Day is Nov. 3. Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. If you are in line when the polls close, you will still be able to cast your ballot.

But the vast majority of voters in Maricopa County – 87.6% in 2024 – cast early ballots.

Arizona voters who choose to vote in person can vote at any voting location in their county of residence. Maricopa County voters can find a list of vote centers and the estimated wait time online.

Voters with mail ballots can also choose to drop off their ballots in their signed green envelopes on Election Day at a voting location – these ballots are often called “late earlies.” These ballots, like other mail ballots, need to be signature verified, meaning it could take several days for them to be counted.

But mail voters who take their ballot to a voting center on Election Day can now choose to tabulate their ballot like an in-person voter. You will need to check in and show valid ID to use a special early-ballot tabulator. These ballots won’t need signature verification and will be included in the election night results.

To see how the new process works:

Top Races 

Maricopa County voters will see roughly 80 contests on their ballot this year. Arizona’s statewide offices, including governor, secretary of state, attorney general and superintendent are up for election this year, and voters will select a lieutenant governor for the first time in state history. Voters will decide on eight statewide ballot measures.

Here are some of the key races:

Governor

Gov. Katie Hobbs is the Democratic incumbent who is running for a second term. She is a social worker who served as Arizona Senate minority leader for four years and Arizona’s secretary of state during the 2020 election. Hobbs says she has worked across the aisle to cut taxes, like eliminating the tax on rent, erased $2 billion in medical debt for 1 million Arizonans and created a Border Coordination Office. She says she will work to protect the state’s water supply and supports reforms to the state’s ESA school voucher program.

U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs, who was Arizona Senate president for four years and chaired the U.S. House Freedom Caucus for two years, is endorsed by President Donald Trump and the late Charlie Kirk. He says he wants to bring costs down for Arizonans by growing the state’s economy, lowering taxes and reducing government interference. He says he wants to eliminate the state’s income tax, lower the drug overdose death rate and develop a long-term water strategy.

Risa Lombardo is running for governor as a Green Party candidate. She says she will transform Arizona's broken two-party system into a government that serves the people, stop data centers, end the use of Flock cameras and enact clean air and water policies. The Green Party says Lombardo, who was a Republican Party official until shortly before she filed to run, is not affiliated with the party.

Teri Hourihan, the No Label Party’s nominee for governor, is a licensed therapist who decided to run for office after the behavioral health provider she owns was removed from Medicaid after she was cleared of fraud allegations. She says her priorities include addressing the cost of living, a universal child care program, protecting school choice and providing safe shelters to remove public encampments.

Lieutenant Governor

Former Mesa Mayor John Giles is Hobbs’ running mate. A longtime former Republican who is registered as an independent, Giles says ESA school vouchers need guardrails. He says he is focused on issues like water, public education and growing the economy that he says are not partisan issues.

Former state Sen. Sine Kerr is a longtime West Valley dairy farmer who now sells beef and served in the state Senate for seven years. She sponsored Kayleigh’s Law, which allows victims of sex crimes to obtain lifetime restraining orders, and created a partnership to employ state inmates to clear forests of debris.

Lisa Castillo is Lombardo’s running mate. She had filed a statement of interest in the Republican gubernatorial primary but did not make the ballot.

Angela Harrolle Mohan is running on the No Labels Party ticket with Hourihan. She is a nonprofit executive and small-business owner who advocated for bipartisan legislation to strengthen benefits for first responder and their families that was signed into law.

Secretary of State

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is a Marine Corps veteran, former prosecutor and former Maricopa County recorder who is running for his second term as Arizona’s top election official. Fontes, a Democrat, established the Artificial Intelligence and Election Security Advisory Committee to identify and address AI threats to elections, fought the Trump administration’s request for voters’ personally identifiable information and had cut wait times for his office’s services to Arizona businesses.

State Rep. Alex Kolodin, the Republican nominee, is an election lawyer, Fontes critic and member of the Arizona Freedom Caucus who has advocated for mandating precinct voting instead of countywide polling places, restricting or ending mail voting. He says he wants to modernize the state’s election administration to make results reporter faster. He is backed by Turning Point Action.

Duwayne Collier is running as a Green Party candidate. He says he wants to eliminate dark money, have full transparency in campaign finance, allow open debates and enact state environmental policies. The Arizona Green Party says he is not affiliated with the party.

Attorney General

Attorney General Kris Mayes is the Democratic incumbent who is running for a second term as attorney general. She has sued the federal government nearly 50 times, saving Arizona $2.3 billion in federal funding and overturning the president’s tariffs at the U.S. Supreme Court. She says her top priorities include prosecuting drug trafficking, going after corporations that are price gouging or taking advantage of consumers and protecting people from fraud.

Senate President Warren Petersen, the Republican nominee, says he will enforce the state’s laws as written, fight federal government overreach and continue to defend state laws banning trans athletes. He says he will defend Second Amendment rights and bring fairness and accountability to the Attorney General’s Office.

Superintendent of Instruction

Terry Leyba Ruiz is an educator and former Glendale Community College president who says some of her top issues are reforming the ESA school voucher program, outreach to parents and increased funding for public schools. She is a Democrat who says she wants to expand access to early learning like pre-K, strengthen career and technical education options and restore respect to teachers.

Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a former Senate Majority Leader and the first Asian American woman elected to the Arizona Legislature, defeated the Republican incumbent, Tom Horne, in the primary. She has criticized Horne’s administration of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the state’s school voucher program and says her top priority is improving Arizona students’ academic achievement.

Corporation Commission

Commissioner Kevin Thompson is the only incumbent commissioner up for one of the two seats on the Corporation Commission. He is a Republican who is a former Mesa councilman and U.S. Air Force veteran who opposes rules requiring utilities to use renewable energy and hit energy-savings targets. He says he supports new energy technologies like micronuclear and investment into affordable and dependable generation.

Jonathon Hill is a scientist and engineer who has worked on several NASA space missions who supports limiting data centers and prioritizing energy sources like solar and battery storage. He is a Democrat who says he wants to reform the rate-setting process by restoring full public hearings before any rate hike is considered.

Clara Pratte is the co-founder of Navajo Power and an entrepreneur who has worked for the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Commerce. Pratte is a member of the Navajo Nation and Democrat who says she will fight for affordable residential bills, ensure data centers pay their fair share, advocate for rural and tribal communities and invest in the state’s energy future.

Ralph Heap is an orthopedic surgeon and state representative who opposes energy policies based on ESG, which are investing standards for environmental issues, how people are treated and how a business is governed and “California-style” energy policies. He is a Republican who says he will support affordable utility rates and block energy mandates that raise costs without delivering results.

Mike Cease is the secretary of the Arizona Green Party who says he will apply energy and water conservation criteria to data centers, which he says are unfit to operate in Arizona. He says he will move to sanction Arizona companies that are “complicit in the U.S./Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people” and mining companies that are destroying Native American sacred sites.

Congressional District 1

Jay Feely is a former NFL kicker endorsed by Trump who lists some of his top issues as border security, bringing the cost of living down and preventing trans athletes from competing in girls' sports.

Amish Shah is an emergency medicine doctor and former Arizona state representative who also ran for the congressional seat in 2024. Some of his top issues are protecting American’s democracy from attacks, lowering costs for Arizonans and protecting Social Security and Medicare.

Congressional District 5

Mark Lamb, a former Pinal County sheriff who is endorsed by Trump, is running for the seat currently held by Biggs. He lists some of his top issues as border security, defending the Constitution and stopping fentanyl trafficking.

Elizabeth Lee is a nurse in reproductive healthcare who says some of her top issues are treating healthcare as a human right, fully funding public education and affordable housing.

Ballot Measures

Proposition 141 

Prop. 141 is a constitutional amendment to ban state and local taxes or fees based on vehicle mileage and from monitoring or limiting how many miles someone travels. The state currently does not levy such taxes or fees, but this measure, if passed, would rule these out as a replacement for Arizona’s gasoline tax, which pays for roads.

A “yes” vote will prohibit the state and municipalities from imposing mileage-based taxes or fees, which four states have implemented on electric and alternative-fuel vehicles to supplement traditional gasoline taxes. Other states are studying how such taxes and fees.

A “no” vote would leave those options on the table for future consideration.

Proposition 142 

Prop. 142 is a constitutional amendment to expand Arizona’s restrictions on affirmative action by prohibiting state and local government entities, including public universities and schools, from requiring someone to support preferential treatment on the basis of race. The measure would also ban schools and public agencies from mandating DEI training or using public funds for DEI programs.

A “yes” vote will amend the Arizona Constitution to prohibit the state from requiring students, employees, applicants or contractors to endorse preferential treatment or discrimination based on race or ethnicity; ban the use of state funding for training or offices that endorse preferential treatment or discrimination based on race or ethnicity; prohibit enrollment in training that promotes the creation of race-based DEI or intersectionality in modern American society; prohibit the state's promotion of policies or procedures that are designed or implemented in reference to race or ethnicity; and ban the creation of a disciplinary practice that treats people differently based on race or ethnicity.

A “no” vote would leave Arizona's current ban on affirmative action programs in place. Voters passed Prop. 107 in 2010.

Proposition 144 

Prop. 144 is a constitutional amendment to require all voters to show ID before voting. It’s unclear how this would be enforced for mail ballots. The measure includes two provisions that are already law: limiting voting to U.S. citizens and banning campaign contributions from foreign nationals. Federal law prohibits foreign nationals from making political donations. Prop. 143 would also add the right to have your vote tabulated at your polling place, something state law already allows voters to do, to the Arizona Constitution.

A “yes” vote would require every voter to show government-issued identification before casting a ballot, even if they are voting by mail. A yes vote would also add a right to have your ballot tabulated at your polling place to the state Constitution.

A “no” vote would leave Arizona’s existing voter ID law unchanged: In-person voters would still need to show voter ID, and mail voters’ ballots would continue to be signature-verified. It also would remain illegal for non-citizens to vote in Arizona and for foreign nationals to make political donations. Voters would continue to have the option to tabulate mail ballots at a polling location during early voting or on Election Day.

Proposition 316 

Prop. 316 would cap municipal taxes on groceries to 2% and requires voters to approve any new or increased grocery taxes.

A “yes” vote would limit any municipal tax on groceries to 2%; require a public vote on any new grocery taxes or tax hikes; and ban cities, towns and counties from raising or adding a tax on groceries from July 2, 2025, to June 30, 2027.

A “no” vote would leave existing grocery taxes as is and would not restrict cities, towns or counties from levying or increasing a grocery tax.

Proposition 317 

Prop. 317 would declare drug cartels to be terrorist organizations.

A “yes” vote would declare drug cartels as terrorist organizations and direct the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to do everything it can to address the threats posed by cartels.

A “no” vote leaves state law unchanged.

Proposition 318 

Prop. 318 would ban schools and athletic associations from allowing trans people to use a bathroom, locker room, shower room or other private space aligned with their gender. Expands gender restrictions on sports participation by requiring sports to be designated male, female or coed and removes an exception for females to play sports designated for males.

A “yes” vote would expand Arizona’s ban on trans girls from playing girls’ sports to private athletic associations; require athletic teams to be designated as male, female or coed/mixed; ban trans girls and women from playing sports designed for females; and prohibit schools and athletic associations from allowing trans athletes from using bathrooms, locker rooms and other private spaces for their gender identity.

A “no” vote would leave Arizona’s existing ban on transgender girls from playing on female teams in K-12 schools and colleges unchanged and would not regulate bathroom or locker room use.

Proposition 319 

Prop. 319 would ban new red-light camera systems and require municipalities that already have red-light cameras to seek public votes every 10 years.

A “yes” vote would prohibit state and local governments from adding photo-enforcement systems after Dec. 31, 2026, and require public votes on any existing systems in 2028 and every 10 years afterward.

A “no” vote would continue to allow local governments to decide whether or not to have photo enforcement.

Proposition 320 

Prop. 329 would require large school districts and every district in Maricopa and Pima counties to spend at least 60% of their budget on classroom instruction.

A “yes” vote would require school districts with 7,500 or more students or located in Maricopa and Pima counties to spend at least 60% of their operational money on direct educational expenses as defined by the Arizona Auditor General. School districts that don’t would be required to adjust their spending every year until they comply, and the Arizona Department of Education would reduce their state funding by 25% for each year they are out of compliance.

A “no” vote would leave district funding rules as is.