Yuma County prepares for Arizona primary election

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - As the primary election is a few days away, Yuma County is seeing lower registered voters than previous elections.

According to the Elections Department, there are 109,820 registered voters in the Yuma County.

Yuma County Recorder David Lara said the low turnout for early voting and mail-in ballots have been happening all across Arizona.

"We are low. We're trying to get people motivated to go out and vote, but this is happening statewide. It's not just Yuma County. What is that reason? I don't know, but it is very low," Lara shared.

Primaries play a crucial role of narrowing down candidates who will run in the November election. Lara said this election is unlike any other compared to previous years.

"This is the first election I've noticed, especially in different cities, where there's a lot of new candidates. And the incumbents are being challenged which I have never seen before. So a lot of new people, new challenges and a lot of primaries," he explained.

One of the early voters, Matt Harten, said that it was important for him to vote early and do a little bit of research regarding the candidates.

"Went ahead, took some time to do a little research of everybody on the ballot. I know the competitor for mayor is a write-in this year...We just had to make sure we came in and dropped it off. Made sure the vote got counted," Harten said.

Yuma County is holding what's called an emergency voting over the weekend, and on Monday prior to Election Day.

If you would like to learn more about the Arizona primary election, click HERE.