With her signature, Secretary of State Jan Brewer made the Nov. 7 election results official, finalizing the vote canvass and certifying the ballot counts conducted by the state’s 15 counties.
She signed the official canvass of the general election on Dec. 4, pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes §16-648, in the presence of the governor, attorney general and chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.
The voter turnout for this year’s general election was 60.5 percent; compared with 56.3 percent in 2002 and 45.8 percent in 1998. Voter turnout in 2006 was the highest for a non-presidential election in 24 years.
“I am immensely proud of the work which my office and the election workforce throughout this state have done,” Mrs. Brewer said. “Arizona is leading the nation in reforming our elections and improving security around the voting process.”
Democrats made major strides in the election: While Governor Napolitano handily defeated Republican challenger Len Munsil, Democrats also won four of the state’s eight Congressional seats and picked up seven legislative seats.
Voters also approved 12 of the record 19 ballot propositions, approving measures that create a state minimum wage and make English the official language, while defeating attempts to ban gay marriage and conduct ballots by mail.
Since 2002, voter registration in the state has increased by 339,221 voters to 2,568,401 this year. Of that number, fully 1,553,032 ballots were cast.
Mrs. Brewer noted this was the first general election in Arizona with the ID at the polls requirement, new accessible voting equipment used at each precinct, and a hand count audit of ballots.
“All in all, our 2006 election process went very smoothly, and that was not without an immense amount of work by hundreds of dedicated election workers throughout our state,” Mrs. Brewer said. “I pledge to continue to build on the successes we’ve accomplished to date and look forward to meeting the many future challenges to bring additional election reforms forward.”