Early voting has begun in Arizona’s 2024 general election. Election Day is Nov. 5. Here are seven FAQS about Arizona Luminaria’s election coverage. Find our guides here.
What is Arizona Luminaria’s mission for election coverage?
Arizona Luminaria helps readers understand complex issues, hold elected officials to account, vote and take action. Our standards are high for ethical, equitable, local journalism.
Arizona Luminaria is a nonprofit and nonpartisan journalism organization. We do not identify with any political party and our funding sources are transparent. We provide local news without a paywall because journalism that is vital to free speech and a free press under the First Amendment should be accessible to everyone.
We believe relevant information about local issues strengthens communities and helps people in the day-to-day work of democracy. We work to break through political rhetoric, seek the truth and report on the many ways our neighbors are united.
How does Arizona Luminaria help me get ready to vote?
You’ve told us you want to make informed decisions when voting, and journalists do some of the legwork for you.
- We check candidates’ backgrounds and voting histories
- We monitor election schedules to tell you about things like voter registration deadlines and timelines for fixing your ballot if there’s a problem with your signature
- We attend campaign events and interview candidates to tell you where they stand on issues you care about
- We read campaign finance reports and break down complex election matters like voting laws and procedures
- We talk with community members to understand how current or proposed policies do or would affect their lives
- We monitor how voting systems are working, digging into what it takes to oversee fair elections and legal cases challenging these systems
Which races is Arizona Luminaria covering and why did you prioritize those?
For 2024, Arizona Luminaria has coverage priorities at the federal, state and local levels. Here’s what we chose, and why.
At the federal level, have focused on the U.S. Senate race in Arizona. We chose this race because the outcome — the person you choose to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — could determine which political party controls the U.S. Senate. Our stories will be different from the coverage from national news sources, because Arizona Luminaria stories focus on Arizona issues and include local context and insights. When journalists from D.C. swoop into Arizona, they sometimes misunderstand what really matters in our communities.
At the state level, based on readers’ feedback we’re covering the abortion ballot measure. After more than two years of turmoil over what’s legal and what’s not, Arizona voters will decide whether to amend our state constitution to allow abortion.
We know there’s a lot on your thick ballot this year and we’re making it a priority to explain what all the ballot propositions mean.
Getting even more local, we also are focused on the Pima County sheriff’s race. This is one way of following through with our commitment to cover the deaths, health care problems and other injustices at the Pima County jail in Tucson. The elected sheriff is ultimately accountable to the public for conditions at the jail.
We are making election articles available in English and Spanish with an emphasis on ensuring critical voting information is available in our state’s second-most spoken language.
We are covering other races and issues, too, with guides to help you decide how to vote. We organize this information in an easy-to-understand way and sometimes link to coverage by other journalists and nonpartisan groups.
Arizona Luminaria has collaborated with the Arizona Media Association to provide videos of debates for some races.
What does Arizona Luminaria mean by independent and nonpartisan journalism?
Independent means Arizona Luminaria is free from government or corporate influence. We’re committed to publishing news that’s accurate, fair, in-depth, and local — with state or national context when needed. We avoid conflicts of interest and disclose potential conflicts. AZ Luminaria follows the ethics and standards of editorial independence adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News and the Society of Professional Journalists.
Arizona Luminaria is nonpartisan, which means that we maintain independence from political influence in all our operations and reporting. Here’s how we embody this principle:
No political affiliation: We do not align ourselves with any political party. You’ll see quotes and context from elected officials and representatives of both parties in our reporting and if someone won’t speak with us, we strive to add publicly available context.
Avoiding stereotypes: We are committed to avoiding stereotypes in our reporting. This means we consciously steer clear of oversimplified and generalized portrayals of individuals, groups or situations. Our goal is to present nuanced, fair and accurate representations.
Editorial integrity: Our editorial policies are designed to ensure that all reporting and content creation processes are conducted with the highest standards of journalistic equity, ethics and integrity. This includes fact-checking, sources from many different communities and a thorough editorial process. Our stories do not promote any specific political ideology. We seek the truth and report it and focus on context and fairness, providing comprehensive news and information that allows readers to form their own opinions.
Community-centered journalism: We focus on issues that matter to our local communities by working in and listening to our communities. This approach helps us build trust and address the real needs and concerns of the people we serve.
How does Arizona Luminaria report election results?
In 2024, Arizona Luminaria is sharing election results from the Associated Press. This allows us to bring you quick and accurate results from a team of expert journalists and to present results in an easy-to-read and understand format.
Here’s how the AP decides who won. They wait to call races until there is no possibility of victory for the trailing candidate or candidates.
Arizona is among several states that allow voters to turn in their early ballots at voting locations in their county on Election Day, which often means complete election results are not available on election night and the process of counting all ballots can sometimes take days. This time to ensure every ballot is counted is expected and is not an automatic sign of irregularities or fraud. We’ll label whether the election results you’re looking at are preliminary or final.
Why doesn’t Arizona Luminaria endorse candidates or positions on ballot measures?
Arizona Luminaria is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and the IRS has rules that prohibit nonprofits from using this status for partisan political activities.
We heard you when you said you weren’t interested in news coverage that tells you what to think or how to vote. So our goal is to provide information and support civic engagement without taking sides.
How can I tell you what I think about Arizona Luminaria election coverage or ask a question?
Email us at info@azluminaria.org or contact us on social media.
We take responsibility for the accuracy and fairness of our work and believe this is a key value that separates quality journalism from other media. We want to know if we’ve gotten something wrong, and you can expect a clarification or correction if we have.
You can email us at info@azluminaria.org to offer feedback, ask us to check a fact, or to request a correction if you spot information you think might be inaccurate.
Keep Arizona Informed
Arizona Luminaria’s staff is working tirelessly to bring you in-depth reporting on Arizona’s 2024 elections. Help us continue this important work by donating to our nonprofit newsroom today.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print.
