AZ: Extension of registration deadline nets more than 35,000 new voters in Arizona
More than 35,000 people signed up to vote during a 10-day extension of Arizona’s voter registration deadline, the Secretary of State's Office estimated Friday.
Though the extension was sought by progressive advocacy groups, the Republican Party ended up gaining more voters than the Democratic Party during the extra days, as the Republican National Committee argued in court to cut off registration.
Still, most of the voters — about 44% — who signed up before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stopped registration Oct. 15 did not affiliate with either major political party.
Initial data showed 10,922 voters registered as Republicans, 8,292 registered as Democrats and 498 as Libertarians. Another 15,422 voters registered without affiliating with any of those parties.
A federal judge moved the deadline in a last-minute order on Oct. 5 after two advocacy groups, Arizona Coalition for Change and Mi Familia Vota, argued that the COVID-19 pandemic had impeded efforts to register new voters and that the state's online registration system does not help Arizonans who live without internet or certain forms of identification.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/17/arizona-voter-registration-deadline-extension-adds-35000/3682316001/