Early In-Person Voting Begins in Arizona with Increased Security Measures: Here's the State of the Key Races

An election worker processes voter information in Maricopa County, where election workers have repeatedly been the target of harassment and threats since the 2020 US election. (Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Polling centers across Arizona opened for early in-person voting on Wednesday, becoming the first battleground state to mark the start of the 2024 election. As they unfold, poll workers are facing harassment due to resurfaced conspiracy theories tied to the 2020 election.

The Secretary of State's Office reported that nearly 80% of participating Arizona voters submitted their ballots during the early voting period in the 2020 election when the state surprised the nation with a majority vote for President Joe Biden—the state's first Democratic victory in a presidential election since 1996.