Early ballots go in the mail today, Wednesday, Aug. 1, for the Aug. 28 primary election that includes the Town of Fountain Hills council election.

Those on the list to receive an early ballot by mail should have one in hand by the end of the week.

Registered voters who still want to receive a ballot in the mail, but are not signed up or on the Permanent Early Voter List may request a ballot by mail until Friday, Aug. 17. Go to the Maricopa County Recorder’s website for elections to fill out the request form.

Those who do not receive a ballot by mail, but still want to vote early can visit any Vote Center to cast a ballot. In Fountain Hills the Vote Center will be at the Community Center, 13007 N. La Montana Drive, although the hours of operation had not been released by press time, the information is to be on the Recorder’s website today, Wednesday, Aug. 1.

The Vote Center, manned by county election volunteers, can be used prior to election day for voters to drop off an early ballot, cast a ballot early and replace a lost or spoiled ballot.

Those who want to wait until election day, Tuesday, Aug. 28, to cast their ballot can go to the polls. There will be two polling sites in town and voters need to visit the one designated for the precinct they live in.

The Community Center will also serve as a polling facility on election day serving the Fountain Hills, Four Peaks and Golden Eagle voting precincts.

Those who live in the Saguaro or Palisades precincts will vote at the First Baptist Church, 10215 N. Saguaro Blvd. on election day.

For those who are unsure which precinct they live in they can visit the Recorder’s website and find “where do I vote.”

Candidates

The Town Council election for Fountain Hills features two candidates for mayor, Ginny Dickey and Cecil Yates, both former council members.

There are six candidates seeking the three seats with expiring terms this year. They include incumbent Councilman Alan Magazine, Marcus Bulow von Dennewitz, Gerry Friedel, Sharron Grzybowski, Mike Scharnow and David Spelich.

If any of the candidates do not receive a majority of all the votes cast for a single council seat in the primary the seat will be decided during the General Election in November. Depending on the number of unfilled seats this runoff could include two, four or all six candidates.

This is calculated by taking the total number of votes cast for the three council seats, divide that number by three for an average per seat and divide that number by two to determine a majority for each seat. Any candidate who receives that number of votes or more is elected outright.

There are three other Fountain Hills residents on the ballot for other offices.

Former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Senator Jeff Flake.

State Senator John Kavanagh is not seeking re-election to the Senate, but is seeking to run as a Republican for one of the two seats in the Arizona House of Representatives, an office he also held previously.

Congressman David Schweikert is unchallenged for the Republican nomination to return to his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He will be challenged in November.