Mary Jo Pitzl

The Republic | azcentral.com

More than 7,000 Maricopa County early-ballot voters need to verify the signature on their ballot by 7 p.m. Tuesday or their votes won't count.

These voters either forgot to sign their ballots or their signatures didn't clearly match the signature on the voter rolls, said Elizabeth Bartholomew, a spokeswoman for the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.

Check your early-ballot status.

Elections officials will call voters up until polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday to get them to verify their signature, Bartholomew said. If the signature is questionable, elections officials can ask questions over the phone to verify their identity, such as their address, their Social Security number or other information on the voter-registration form. They do not need to travel to the recorder's office.

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Of the voters contacted as of late Monday, 69 percent had signatures that didn't clearly match the signature they submitted when they registered to vote.

For the other 31 percent — 2,288 — those voters forgot to sign their ballot. They need to visit county elections offices in downtown Phoenix and sign their ballot by 7 p.m. if they want their vote to count.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl

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