The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community’s Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs set up in the lobby of Two Waters A on July 11 and 18 for a “Burritos & Ballots” event to encourage voters to deposit their primary election mail ballots in the outgoing mailbox.

In return, anybody who stopped by the booth received a coupon for a free burrito valid that day at the Round House Café. There was no limitation on who could receive a burrito, as the goal was to address any questions that individual voters had about candidates prior to mailing their ballot.  

On July 11, 20 ballots were turned in for 34 burritos, and on July 18, 22 ballots were turned in for 78 burritos.

“The Get Out the Vote effort featuring the Burritos & Ballots event was meant to target voters who are on the Active Early Voting List (AEVL) who have already received their ballots in the mail,” said Gary Bohnee, legislative affairs assistant. “We know approximately 50% of Community-member registered voters are on the AEVL, and we know large numbers of voters in Maricopa County vote by mail. Our goal is to create opportunities for all Community-member and employee voters to build awareness and encourage voting.”

With 2024 being a presidential election year, the OCLA is encouraging all Community members and employees to register and vote in the general election on Tuesday, November 5.

“It is also important to let all of the candidates for office know that the SRPMIC vote matters,” said Bohnee.

For more information about the candidates running for office, head to www.saltrivervotes.com.