'Hearing your voice': In the national spotlight, voters cast ballots, certain of their views

As voters walked out of the Guadalupe Mercado after casting their ballots, someone hollered at them from across the parking lot.

"Free taco and a drink if you voted!" Tomas Martin, who was slinging Mexican food out of his truck, Pokys Cocina, repeated the cry.

He had set up outside the entrance to the polling place inside the spacious mall in Guadalupe, a historic Phoenix town sandwiched between Interstate 10 and the western edge of Tempe.

By 10 a.m., Martin had given free tacos to about 30 people and discussed the election with none of them.

"There's no politics in food, right?" he said, grinning.

But though there were, actually, some important decisions to be made at the taco truck — carne asada, al pastor, or pollo? — those filling out ballots nearby were feeling the weight of their choices.

"I am a liberal Democrat," Maryann Fiore said, before leaning in close to the voice recorder. "And proud of it!"

Fiore, who lives in Ahwatukee and gave her age as "old," was disheartened by the state of U.S. politics.

Arizona, she said, is like everywhere else in America: "It's divisive and it's angry and it's paranoid and it's depressing."

"I live in a Republican state. I don't expect much," she added. "But that doesn't mean I don't try to do what I need to do."

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"I don't feel like I have a lot of power," she said. "I don't know if this is going to make a difference, you know?"

Arizona voters cast ballots Tuesday, some with hope and others in despair, amid fierce national scrutiny on the state. The spotlight was drawn by a slate of GOP candidates who continue to prop up former President Donald Trump's debunked claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Fighting misinformation

The ongoing focus on 2020 proved something of a Rorschach test, with some voters saying it had sealed their vote for the Democrats, and others reporting they had lost faith — or never had it to begin with — in the integrity of U.S. elections.

To Chris McGinley, a librarian, Arizona is "a state divided" and the chasm between the two sides just gets wider and wider.

The 37-year-old voted at the Guadalupe Mercado alongside his mom. "I screwed up my ballot, unfortunately, so I had to come in," he said, adding that he enjoys the civic experience.

His number one issue is fighting misinformation, especially when it comes to politicians seeking to exploit disenfranchised groups.

"My whole higher ed degree is just looking and making sure information is credible and valuable and viable and it goes through the right ranks and stuff," he said.

"So to have people quoting Q-anon from like 8chan message boards is pretty depressing."

Javier Cesar Lopez, a Guadalupe local, said he once was a Democrat, but not anymore.

"Because Democrats are evil," the 43-year-old said, by way of explanation.

Lopez, who was heading off to work, said there were "a lot" of reasons for his switch.

"I would be standing here all day telling you," he said, before offering up one example: "They lie through their teeth and the whole world knows it.

"About?"

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"Everything," he said. Then he turned and jogged away.

2020 questions linger

Other Republican voters were happier to expand on their ballot choices.

It was still dark when Erika Ortiz emerged from the South Phoenix branch of the Loyal Order of Moose, a men's community service organization, after casting her vote for Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

"I just don't like what's going on in the country right now," she said. "We need change."

Ortiz cited safety and border security as her top issues.

"There's too many violent people coming across the border," she said. "Easily coming across the border."

Patrick Hilgert also cast his ballot at the Moose lodge, leaving just as the sun peeked over the top of South Mountain.

"I feel that there are two distinct sides in our political system, and one side loves America and its Constitution, and the other side doesn't," he said.

"And so it was a very easy decision because I love America and I believe in our Constitution, and I believe that America should have sovereignty."

He's all for immigrants coming to the U.S. and chasing the American Dream, he said, but they have to come legally, and if they commit crimes, they need to leave.

"I don't think you have to be a Rhodes Scholar to see that the country is not better off than it was under the previous administration," he said. "You know, whether it be gas prices or taxes or opportunities or anything."

Hilgert believes there has always been "rampant voter fraud" throughout the U.S., but it was particularly noticeable in the 2020 election.

"I'm not denying that Biden didn't get 81 million ballots," he said. "I just don't think they were real votes."

'They have no proof'

Veterinarian Melanie Peters, who wore a pink lanyard dotted with cats, arrived at the South Phoenix polling place early.

She had voted Democratic, she said, put off by Republican stances on abortion, voter identification, the border wall, and a slew of other things.

"Where they're putting their energy is not where I'm at," she said.

When the legitimacy of the 2020 election was thrown into question, she said, she did her own research on it.

"I haven't seen one bit of information that says that it is there was anything fraudulent about it," she said.

"People I've talked to personally about it, it all comes down to 'Well I believe,'" she said. "They have no proof. No evidence. They just believe."

"So if someone can prove it to me, fine. But nobody can. So I don't think it happened."

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Peters, who is 63 and from Tempe, said reports of armed ballot box watchers had caused her to wonder if voting would be safe.

"I'm glad to see it is," she said, gesturing to the calm scene behind her. "It's fine. But I've never had that doubt in my mind before."

Abortion front of mind

Cotina Gordon, 50, described herself as a moderate who reluctantly voted for Democrat Katie Hobbs for governor. She named access to abortion as her top issue.

"It may not have been my choice, but it could be your choice," she said after dropping off her ballot in South Phoenix.

"I've raised my daughter that abortion is not a form of birth control," she added.

"But if a reason for you to have one is based on you have zero money, you have a bad situation ... or your health is in danger, that is good reason to terminate a pregnancy."

It was also top of mind for Cassandra Lopez of Glendale, who voted at the Phoenix Suns arena in downtown Phoenix.

"I think women should be able to choose what they do with their bodies, between them and their doctors," the 27-year-old said.

"And there shouldn't be any criminal penalties for that decision in any state."

Environment is a 'big deal'

Back at the Guadalupe Mercado, Charlene Silva arrived at the polling place dressed in a leopard print onesie and slippers.

Silva, 44, is an analyst at Arizona State University, a sustainability student, and a mom to three kids aged 17, 10 and 5. It's a busy life, she said. "That's why I'm in my pajamas."

She voted Democratic, swayed by the issue of water conservation. "I'm not really into all the mudslinging," she added, "but I think the environment's kind of a big deal right now."

She hopes the election process will help her children understand that their vote matters.

"If you vote for a candidate or proposition and it doesn't win, it doesn't go your way, that's not what it's all about," she said.

"You know, my father always said it's about hearing your voice."

Reach the reporter at lane.sainty@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter @lanesainty.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: In the national spotlight, voters cast ballots across Phoenix