(Photo by Bret Jaspers - KJZZ)

Earlier this year, Reynaldo "Rey" Valenzuela answers questions about the proposed polling sites for the special election in the 8th Congressional district.

Maricopa County has to hustle to put on a special election to replace Trent Franks in the 8th Congressional District.

On Thursday night at Surprise City Hall, county officials met with the public to answer questions about proposed polling sites. State law allows the county to run fewer polling places because it’s a special election.

Kristi Passarelli with the County Elections Department said they tried to stick with sites they’d used before.

“We have taken into consideration previous historical voter turnout, the number of registered voters that are assigned to a location and the number of voters that a polling place can handle in a day, which is about 2,500 to 3,000," Passarelli said.

The public can now view and comment on the plan at the County Recorder’s website.

The meeting drew party activists prepping their get-out-the-vote operation.

Manuel Hernandez of Surprise, president of the Northwest Valley Democrats, wanted to make sure his people had the information they needed.

“We have a lot of people in Surprise and Sun City West that do vote," Hernandez said. "So I wanna make sure they know where their polling places are at and they’re not confused.”

Republican candidate Phil Lovas, who resigned his position with the Trump Administration to run for the seat, is one of 13 GOP candidates. There are three Democrats in the race.

“You’re trying to condense a year and a half or a year campaign into about 11 weeks,” Lovas said. “This is a quick sprint.”

Important Dates:

• Deadline to register to vote is Jan. 29.

• Early primary voting starts Jan. 31.

• Primary election is Feb. 27.