PHOENIX - Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett issued the official canvass of results for the 2012 General Election today.  Joined by Attorney General Tom Horne and Chief Justice Rebecca White Berch, Secretary Bennett certified the results of November’s General Election.

While statewide voter registration has increased 4.5 percent since 2008, the official canvass shows a 3 percent decrease in turnout for this year’s election.  Arizona’s decrease compares favorably with reports indicating a larger decline in nationwide participation.  According to the Associated Press approximately 118 million Americans participated in the election, down from 131 million in 2008, a 9 percent drop.

Arizona’s 2,323,679 votes elected 11 presidential electors, 113 candidates and approved 4 of 9 ballot measures.  More than 1.7 million votes came via an early ballot.  The number of provisional ballots issued totaled 171,661. Preliminary analysis indicates that many provisional ballots were the result of voters who were mailed an early ballot but instead voted at the polls. 

Secretary Bennett commended the counties who processed more ballots in less time than they did in 2008. 

“The perception that counties took longer to count ballots this election is inaccurate,” said Bennett.  “Four years ago county recorders finished their work in 15 days.  This year they finished up in 14.  However, we saw a surge in late arriving early ballots this year.  As the number of people voting an early ballot continues to increase, we should explore options to more effectively manage the larger number of early ballots that arrive late in the cycle.  This would allow us to provide results to the public sooner.

“Over the next few months, we will be meeting with the county recorders and election directors to review what went well and explore areas where we might have the opportunity to speed up the system of counting ballots.  I’m confident that by working together with our counties we can keep the things we’re doing well and make adjustments to better handle changes in voter behavior.”

The full general election canvass is available online here.