When you turn 18 you have the right to help decide the future of our nation and your community by voting. To vote you must first register and also be:
- A citizen of The United States.
- At least 18 on or before the date of the next regular general election following your registration (26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)(ARS §16-101).
- A resident of the state for 29 days immediately before the election.
- Not convicted of treason or a felony (unless your civil rights have been restored).
- Able to write your name, unless prevented by physical disability.
- Not adjudicated as an incapacitated person as defined in Arizona Law (ARS §14-5101).
- See the Arizona Constitution Art. 7 §2 and ARS §16-101 for more qualifications about voting in Arizona.
Laws may have changed since the last time this article was updated. The current and most up-to-date laws can be accessed here.
Electoral College
In the U.S., voters don’t directly elect the president. Instead, they vote for electors in the Electoral College, who formally cast votes for president and vice president. Each state gets a number of electoral votes equal to its total number of U.S. senators (always 2) plus its representatives in the House, which is based on population. That means states with more people have more electoral votes. For example, in the 2024 election, Arizona had 11 electoral votes, California had 54, and Wyoming had 3. There are 538 electoral votes nationwide, and a candidate needs at least 270 to win.
Most states, including Arizona, use a "winner-take-all" system. This means whichever candidate wins the most votes in the state gets all of its electoral votes. So even if the margin is very small, the winning candidate takes the full count. This system makes swing states like Arizona especially important, since a few thousand votes can decide how all of a state's electoral votes are awarded.
Because of this setup, it’s possible for a candidate to win the national popular vote (meaning they received more individual votes across the country) but still lose the election. This happens when the other candidate wins enough states with more electoral votes, even if they win those states by narrow margins. It’s happened five times in U.S. history, most recently in 2016. The Electoral College was designed to balance influence between states, but it continues to spark debate about fairness and representation in presidential elections.