Thursday marks last day to register to vote in Arizona

PHOENIX (AP) — Thursday marks the last day for Arizonans to register to vote in the Nov. 3 general election.

A judge had extended the deadline until Oct. 23 after pandemic restrictions led to a decrease in voter registrations. An appeals court later ordered an early end to the extension, though it is allowing people until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday to register.

People who have already completed registrations during the extension period will be allowed to vote on Nov. 3.

Arizona has recorded more than 47,000 new registrations in the nine days since the deadline was extended.

Advocacy groups that petitioned for the extension had said their number of weekly registrations had plummeted because of the pandemic’s restrictions, though those figures returned to almost the same level as before the pandemic.

Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and GOP groups are appealing the Oct. 5 ruling that extended the deadline due to pandemic restrictions.