The Maricopa County Elections Department has extended drop box hours at five of the seven Emergency Voting locations until 9 p.m. today, Monday, March 16, for voters with early ballots. Voters do not have to have an emergency to drop off a ballot.

The drop box outside of the Elections Department in Phoenix is open 24 hours-a-day. Voters must return ballots to a voting location or an official ballot drop box no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, March 17.

The locations nearest Fountain Hills with extended hours on Monday include:

Maricopa County Elections Department – Mesa, 222 E. Javelina Ave. in Mesa (8 a.m. - 9 p.m.)

Mesa Community College at Red Mountain – Mesa, 7110 E. McKellips Rd. (8:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.)

Due to the rapidly changing dynamics of COVID-19, the Maricopa County Elections Department changed Election Day polling locations. In-person voters no longer have an assigned polling location. Voters may now select from any of the geographically dispersed Vote Centers. It’s important for the public to visit the elections website at BeBallotReady.vote to find out if they’re eligible for this election and their nearest voting location.

Officials say they are working to balance equal access to the polls, while prioritizing the health and safety of the public. Reducing polling sites, but increasing Vote Centers accomplishes both. Fewer polling locations also provides poll workers more cleaning supplies and ability to meet U.S. Centers for Disease Control surface cleaning directives.

There are 732,380 registered Democrats eligible to participate in the Presidential Preference Election. As of Sunday, March 15, voters requested over 571,100 early ballots and more than 285,174 of those ballots had been processed.

The Democratic Presidential Preference Election Day is Tuesday, March 17, 2020.