Maricopa County Recorder picks fight over election control
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An election worker processes early ballots inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in November. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Newly elected Republican Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap is picking a fight with the county's Board of Supervisors in hopes of expanding his power over election operations.
Why it matters: MAGA-aligned Heap has questioned the validity and security of past elections and ran on making sweeping changes to the way votes are cast and tallied.
Reality check: Heap promised major changes to the county's election system, though many election-related duties are outside his office's purview and are overseen by the Board of Supervisors.
- Heap wants the board, controlled by Republicans who have defended the election system, to give some of its responsibilities to him.
Catch up quick: Arizona law splits election duties between the board and recorder, with the former overseeing most Election Day activities, including in-person voting, and the latter controlling voter registration and voting by mail.
- Beginning in the 1950s, the board ceded its responsibilities to the recorder via a shared service agreement. This concentrated all election responsibilities under the recorder's office.
Flashback: In 2019, the board chose to claw back most of its duties following a mishap that led to many polling places opening late.
- At the time, the recorder was Democrat Adrian Fontes, now Arizona's secretary of state. Then-board chair Bill Gates, a Republican, said at the time the move was not politically motivated but necessary because the county had grown and it no longer made sense for a single elected official to manage an exceedingly complex election system.
- The board continued the arrangement after Republican Stephen Richer took over as recorder and last year updated the agreement to move early ballot processing and some IT functions under the board's scope.
State of play: Heap, in a statement outlining his "battle" with the board this week, demanded the supervisors agree to a new shared service agreement undoing last year's changes and return all election responsibilities to his office if the board is unwilling to do so.
- He insinuated that he would sue if the board doesn't comply.
The other side: Current board chair Thomas Galvin said in a statement the board has been in talks about a new agreement with the recorder for weeks and will ensure it complies with state law and election best practices.
- "Despite the factual errors in Recorder Heap's statement, I don't view this as a 'battle,'" he said.
The bottom line: State law gives the board significant authority over election operations, and Heap's bombastic negotiation approach is unlikely to encourage the supervisors to hand over that power.