AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Voters across the country are hitting the polls today. It is the last chance to have your voice heard in this presidential election. In Arizona, one of the seven battleground states, voting organizations have been doing everything they can in these final days to push people to the polls. NPR's Ximena Bustillo has been on the ground in Phoenix and joins us now. Hi, Ximena.
XIMENA BUSTILLO, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so I understand that you spent some time with several groups this weekend in the final stretch of get out the vote efforts. What was the vibe like?
BUSTILLO: The days leading up to Election Day have been a huge celebration across Maricopa County, one of the most populous counties in the country. Candidates and organizers have booked DJs, party buses and held concerts, even a rodeo to help get people excited about the process.
CHANG: Nice.
BUSTILLO: Groups like Our Voice, Our Vote, which is focused on voters of color, specifically Black voters, celebrated having registered 8,000 people to vote this year. Here's Sena Mohammed, executive director of Our Voice, Our Vote.
SENA MOHAMMED: The Black community have the power to be able to determine the results here in the state. When we turn out, we turn out for Democrats.
BUSTILLO: This weekend, Ailsa, I boarded a party bus with some very excited first-time voters recruited by this organization, who were dropping off their ballots.
CHANG: Democracy in action, I guess - literally. Well, what about the flip side? How have conservatives been pressing through these final days to turn out votes?
BUSTILLO: Well, not everyone is ready to party just yet. Turning Point Action has spent months using voter registration data to motivate conservatives who have sat out the last few elections. And they want to make sure people turn in their ballots and help people verify their signatures, a process called curing. Here's Tyler Bowyer, chief operating officer.
TYLER BOWYER: We know we've got to grind through next Sunday, because that's a curing deadline. So our heads are just still in the place where it's like, hey, we've got five days after the election where we've got a cure ballots. And so we're not going to be stopping and really analyzing and feeling anything, you know, until we get through that.
BUSTILLO: In 2020, 4 out of 5 registered Arizona voters showed up to the polls, which is higher than the national average. So this is already an engaged group, and organizers are hoping to grow that base.
CHANG: OK, and there are a lot of voters who waited until today to vote, of course. What have you been hearing from them?
BUSTILLO: Well, more than 130,000 people have voted as of midday, with even more expected in these late afternoon hours. For some, this is a day of reflecting on Arizona's role in this election. Here's Phoenix voter Felicia Brown.
FELICIA BROWN: In order to move forward, I think we have to think outside of the box but think forward.
BUSTILLO: I have been closely covering Arizona this year because it is one of the key swing states, as you mentioned, that can determine who wins the presidential election. Maricopa County is also a newly dubbed swing area. It helped Trump win in 2016. But the state and this area wasn't always so swingy. Democratic presidential candidates have only won Arizona three times in the last 70 years, the most recent, of course, being President Biden, who won by 10,000 votes in 2020.
CHANG: A sliver. And, of course, Arizona has been on our radar because these voters also have other decisions to make that have been the focus of national attention. Tell us more about that.
BUSTILLO: Voters, particularly in this county, have one of the longest ballots in recent elections to sift through. One of the most highly watched items is the Senate race between Democrat Ruben Gallego and GOP candidate Kari Lake. This can help determine control of the Senate. And voters will also decide on measures related to abortion rights and immigration.
CHANG: And real quick, Ximena, how has Maricopa County been preparing for counting votes? Like, do you think we'll know anything tonight?
BUSTILLO: That really remains to be seen. Election officials told us this morning that the first batch of results is expected to be released around 10 p.m. Eastern time. Those will account for the ballots that were mailed in early. Arizona's results are expected to continue into tomorrow and even the following days for all these various races and ballot decisions.
CHANG: That is NPR's Ximena Bustillo in Phoenix, Arizona. Thank you, Ximena.
BUSTILLO: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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