**Arizona Awaits Final Election Results Amid Lengthy Vote-Count Process**

Arizona remains on edge as it awaits the final tally of its election results, following significant developments in neighboring Nevada where Donald Trump has been declared the winner overnight. As of Saturday mid-morning, official tallies in Arizona were 83% complete, showing Trump with a lead of 52.7% over Harris at 46%, a margin of approximately 180,000 votes. Despite this lead, the state remains undeclared due to a substantial number of uncounted ballots, totaling 602,000 as of late Friday night.

In the crucial Senate race, Republican Kari Lake trails Democrat Ruben Gallego by a narrow margin, with Lake at 48.5% and Gallego at 49.5%, separated by roughly 33,000 votes. This race has drawn significant attention, especially after Kyrsten Sinema, who initially won the seat for the Democrats in 2018, switched to become an independent and announced she would not seek re-election.

Several key races in Arizona remain tightly contested, including the sixth congressional district battle. Incumbent Republican Juan Ciscomani faces a stiff challenge from Democrat Kirsten Engel, with national implications as Democrats hope to flip control of the House of Representatives.

Delays in reporting are largely attributed to Maricopa County, the fourth largest in the U.S. and home to Phoenix. The county reported having 351,000 ballots yet to be counted as of Friday evening. The lengthy process is partly due to the detailed two-page ballots, which require additional time to separate, flatten, and check for damage.

The Arizona Republic newspaper highlighted an ongoing issue with "early-late" votes – early ballots that are only dropped off for counting on election day. State representative Alexander Kolodin is considering a proposal to require early ballots to be submitted in advance of election day to expedite the verification process.

Despite heightened security and fears of potential violence, Arizona has not seen a repeat of the unrest and prolonged disputes that followed the 2020 election. There have been no reports of intimidation of election workers, providing a relatively calm backdrop as the state navigates this extended counting period.