Each week the contest to represent the major parties in the November presidential election gets more intense as primary races pass.

It is still almost two weeks before Arizona voters get to make their voices heard in this historic race. Tuesday, March 22, is the Presidential Preference Primary in Arizona.

Voters on the early voter list began receiving their ballots soon after they were mailed out Feb. 25. However, only those voters registered with a designated party are eligible to cast a ballot. The recognized parties for the Arizona Presidential Preference Primary are Democrat, Green and Republican.

Those registered with no party affiliation are not eligible to participate in this closed primary.

On the Democratic Party ballot there are six candidates listed with 85 delegates at stake. Those delegates are proportionally distributed based on vote totals.

In the Republican race there are 58 delegates in a winner-take-all contest.

In spite of a recent thinning of the herd, there are 14 candidates listed on the GOP ballot.

Those eligible voters who are not on the early voter list and did not receive an early ballot can go to any one of some 60 polling locations in Maricopa County on Election Day. The Fountain Hills Community Center will be a polling site open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 22 for voting.

Those with an early ballot who do not get it in the mail on time can drop it off at a polling site on Election Day.

The entire list of polling locations is available at voter.azsos.gov.

There are a number of elections taking place around the nation and state this month. Fountain Hills residents are participating only in the Presidential Preference Primary.