PHOENIX – Although the presidential race has been declared, voters in the Grand Canyon State still have a pressing question: Why don’t we have all the results from Election Day yet?

It all comes down to four main factors.

1. The size of Maricopa County
2. The political composition of Arizona
3. The duration of the vote
4. The election laws were written and passed by Republicans.

Maricopa County, the largest in the state, is also the second largest in the country. It is behind only Los Angeles County, which is reliably Democratic. Maricopa, on the other hand, has become more purple, making our races increasingly close.

FURTHER: Election results could take up to 13 days, Maricopa County warns

This year we also had a two-page ballot, which takes a while to process.

Additionally, the convergence of our laws (convenience and precision) slows things down.

Mail-in ballots take longer to count because they need to be scanned, sorted and signature verified. Voters can return ballots by mail before the polls close on Election day. A fifth of voters did that in 2022.

An election worker removes a ballot from an envelope to count and inspect the pages inside the Maricopa County Election and Tabulation Center (MCTEC) on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona. Pairs of election workers from different pol

State law allows the signature to be “corrected” five days after Election Day, meaning that if the elections office believes the signature or some other detail is incorrect, the voter has five more days to come and fix it so the ballot counts.

Simply put, states that count faster, like Florida, have different laws. Florida suspends early delivery of ballots to polling places on the Friday before Election Day. As a result, not many people vote that way, and state law requires counties to finish counting early ballots by 7 p.m. the day before Election Day.

That means that when the polls close, the process will already be underway and results can be published quickly.

Here in Arizona, this is just beginning for us. Ultimately, it comes down to what people prioritize in elections: the convenience of the mail? Speed ​​of results? These are all factors voters should consider.