Inside Arizona Politics: Early voting begins same day immigration law takes effect

PHOENIX - While much of the world is watching Arizona until July 29 to see whether the state’s controversial new immigration law goes into effect, that date is also important for another reason: It’s the day early voting begins for the primary election.

Long before anyone knew that would be the day new laws were enacted – or in the case of SB1070, the deadline for a judge to decide whether it should be implemented – candidates and political strategists had circled Thursday on their calendars.

Why is it so important?

Well, thanks to legislation in recent years expanding early voting, more than half of all votes cast in Arizona elections are done so with mail-in ballots.

Amplifying the importance of July 29 is the fact that, in Arizona, primary elections are typically where races are won or lost.

The state has very few legislative or congressional districts that are truly competitive, where a candidate from either side could win in any given year.

With voter registration counts that significantly favor one party over the other in the November elections, it is the intra-party battles that often determine who will take the oath of office in January.

Because surveys have shown that the vast majority of early voters cast their ballots within a week after receiving them, July 29 marks the day campaigns need to kick their efforts into high gear.

Campaign commercials on television and radio will multiply by the middle of this week, and direct mail pieces will land in voters’ mailboxes with increased intensity, as the first day of early voting serves as a signal that it is open season for winning votes.