{"id":3812,"date":"2020-10-29T10:25:28","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T15:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=3812"},"modified":"2020-10-29T10:29:42","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T15:29:42","slug":"cronkite-news-voters-cast-millions-of-early-ballots-amid-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/10\/29\/cronkite-news-voters-cast-millions-of-early-ballots-amid-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Voters cast millions of early ballots amid COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\"gilariverarena\"\r\n
Socially distanced voters line up outside of the box office to Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Photo by Michael Gutnick \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Voters at Gila River Arena among million-plus in county to cast early ballots<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, October 29, 2020<\/div>\r\n
By Michael Gutnick<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nPHOENIX \u2013 Nearly eight months ago, 17,125 hockey fans filled the seats of Gila River Arena to watch the Arizona Coyotes in their final home game of the season before a league-wide shutdown due to COVID-19 concerns.

<\/p>\r\nOn Wednesday, the Coyotes and the community returned to Gila River Arena not to watch a hockey game, but to do their civic duty.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nVote.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cWe\u2019d love to have them be here to enjoy a game and cheer on our Coyotes on the ice, but today is as equally as important with early voting,\u201d Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez said.

<\/p>\r\nThe Arizona Coyotes and the City of Glendale announced their partnership with the Maricopa County Elections Department on September 4 to provide Gila River Arena as a voting center. Voters began casting and dropping off their ballots at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Nearly 100 people voted in the first two hours.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nMore than 69 million Americans have turned in their mail-in or in-person ballots for the November 3 presidential election, according to U.S. \r\nElections Project<\/a>\r\ndata released Tuesday afternoon.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAs of Wednesday morning, Maricopa County had received 1.126 million early ballots, according to the Maricopa County Elections Department. The county has already surpassed the early voting total from the 2016 General Election.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cMaricopa voters like to vote early and this election has been no exception,\u201d Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes said in a statement. \u201cWe are seeing a record number of early ballots returned.\u201d

<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\"voteherevotaaqui\"\r\n
In addition to voting inside, Arizona residents were able to drop off their ballots at the entrance of Gila River Arena. Photo by Michael Gutnick \/ Cronkite News\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nGila River provided free parking on the east side of the arena. Voters were able to line up outside near the box office, six feet apart while wearing masks. Voters said the access to Gila River arena as a voting center brought forth an easier option to vote and turn in their ballots.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI am very appreciative that they did this,\u201d said Brian Slapinsky, 40, from Laveen. \u201cI didn\u2019t know too much about where I could go to vote, so when the Coyotes announced they were going to do it here, I was very pleased because I knew where I could go.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nRuthee Goldkorn, 65, moved from Southern California to Peoria four months ago and was first in line to cast her ballot.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cComing here was predicated on the fact that I saw it in the paper,\u201d Goldkorn said. \u201cI could easily find directions to vote here.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nDon Heimbaugh, 65, from Glendale, helped construct Gila River Arena as the building electrician and has been a Coyotes fan since 2003.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI was glad to see it was here and close to home. I helped open up this building, so it\u2019s nice to see it again,\u201d Heimbaugh said. \u201cI was planning on going here. I saw it online and made it really easy for me.\u201d

<\/p>

<\/ins>