La Paz County schedules public test of primary election machines
La Paz County put its primary tabulating machines through a public test in Parker, a final check before early ballots are mailed June 24.
Tabulating equipment for La Paz County’s July 21 primary was put through a public logic-and-accuracy test in Parker, a final check meant to show the machines were ready to count ballots correctly before early voting started. The test took place at 11:15 a.m. June 18 at the La Paz County Board of Supervisors building, where election observers could watch the county’s ballot-counting system being verified ahead of a crowded local election season.
The notice said the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office conducted the test under A.R.S. 16-449 and the Arizona Elections Procedures Manual, the state framework meant to promote correctness, impartiality, uniformity and efficiency in election administration. Arizona law also requires the test to be observed by at least two election inspectors from different political parties and to be open to representatives of political parties, candidates, the press and the public, making the process one of the county’s clearest transparency checkpoints before votes are counted.
That timing mattered because La Paz County was approaching several deadlines at once. The last day to register for the July 21 primary was June 22 at 11:59 p.m., and early voting began June 24, the same day early ballots were mailed. The county’s election calendar shows La Paz County is administering both the primary and the Nov. 3 general election, while also running elections for the Town of Parker, the Town of Quartzsite, school districts and special districts through intergovernmental agreements. County election pages also list 11 public offices or seats on the 2026 ballot.
The stakes are especially visible in a county as small as La Paz, where the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population at 16,992 in 2024 and 16,711 in 2025. Parker, the county seat and the site of the test, has a population of about 3,388. In a place that size, even modest shifts in turnout can shape contests across Parker, Quartzsite and the surrounding precincts that depend on the same election system.
The county has also put a premium on verification before. After the 2024 primary, a recount replicated the initial count results exactly, and the Board of Supervisors canvassed that election on Aug. 7, 2024. For voters and campaigns heading into the July 21 primary, the June 18 test served as a practical reminder that ballot security in La Paz County starts long before Election Day.
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