It would appear that ballot harvesting by groups like Citizens for a Better Arizona for the Democrat Party weren’t as effective as the GOP’s get out the vote efforts this year.
On Wednesday, Maricopa County GOP Chair A.J. LaFaro thanked “all the hard working PCs and Republican volunteers for their tireless GOTV efforts” that resulted in Republican victories Tuesday night. According to the Maricopa County Elections Department, the early ballot return rate for Republicans so far
is slightly over 65 percent. And, according to sources, the return rate was not the product of ballot harvesting.
“To say everyone’s hard work paid off would be an understatement,” LaFaro told volunteers on Wednesday by email. “The victories here in Arizona and around the U.S. have given the Republican Party the opportunity to begin fixing the countless problems the Obama Administration has created for America.”
According to LaFaro, Maricopa County Elections estimates they will be finished counting all of their ballots early next week. Those remaining ballots could be pivotal in a number of close races.
LaFaro exposed the ballot harvesting of Citizens for a Better Arizona (CBA) last month after requesting a video taken by security cameras at Maricopa County’s ballot processing center. In that video, a member of CBA is seen stuffing hundreds of ballots into a receptacle for processing.
| PARTY | Early Ballots Requested | Early Ballots Returned | Percent Returned | Early Ballots Remaining |
| Republican | 497,925 | 323,701 | 65.01% | 174,224 |
| Democrat | 369,677 | 203,313 | 55.00% | 166,364 |
| Other | 418,632 | 180,315 | 43.07% | 238,317 |
| Libertarian | 10,846 | 4,076 | 37.58% | 6,770 |
| Americans Elects | 229 | 88 | 38.43% | 141 |
| Totals | 1,297,309 | 711,493 | 54.84% | 585,816 |
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LaFaro submitted a Public Information Request to Maricopa County Elections on 08/26 requesting the 24/7 security surveillance video tape for 08/25 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the camera in the MCTEC foyer watching the ballot box – camera 9.