Recorder's mail ballot plan deepens GOP rift in Maricopa County
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Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap's latest plan drove a wedge further between him and the Board of Supervisors. Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
MAGA-aligned Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap's plan to mail ballots to some voters who didn't request them in an upcoming special election has elevated tensions among him, the GOP-controlled county board of supervisors and Republican County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.
Why it matters: The effort was unexpected from Heap, who has historically opposed mail-in voting and prompted questions about election integrity from other county Republicans.
Catch up quick: Maricopa County is responsible for administering the July Congressional District 7 primary for the roughly 57,000 eligible voters who reside in the county. (The vast majority of CD7 voters live in Pima County.)
- On Monday, Heap's team presented an election plan that included a proposal to mail ballots to registered voters who live in rural areas more than a two-hour drive from an early-voting location, regardless of whether the voters had requested ballots.
- Heap's chief of staff Sam Stone said during the presentation that the plan had been vetted by the county attorney's office.
- The Board of Supervisors, which shares election responsibilities with the recorder, rejected that portion of Heap's plan, questioning its legality and calling it bad precedent.
The latest: Mitchell sent a letter to the recorder and county supervisors on Tuesday saying her office never approved the plan nor was ever asked to review it.
- In the three-page letter obtained by Axios, Mitchell also provided state statutes and case law that show Heap's plan is "unlawful."
The intrigue: Heap's 2024 campaign was backed by people who pushed conspiracies about mail ballot fraud, and while serving in the Legislature he supported bills that would have eliminated mail and early voting, which makes this strategy counterintuitive.
- The recorder's office did not respond to Axios' questions about why he wanted to mail the ballots.
- During Monday's meeting, Stone said the goal was to better serve the small number of voters in very rural areas that would otherwise face a long drive to vote.
The other side: Republican Supervisors Tom Galvin, Kate Brophy McGee and Debbie Lesko criticized Heap's plan and suggested that future recorders could use it to justify sending ballots to all registered voters, which would undermine election integrity.
- "I was surprised and disappointed to see that the recorder offered this option. I do believe that this opens up a can of worms. I have seen this county repeatedly get attacked from folks on the outside regarding mail-in ballots, regarding election security," Galvin said.
Flashback: Former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, a Democrat, attempted to mail ballots to all registered Democrats for the 2020 Democratic Presidential Preference Election during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.
- The plan was quickly challenged by then-Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and was blocked in court.
What we're watching: Heap and the board were already at odds over how to split the county's election responsibilities — and this scuffle is unlikely to improve relations.
- The board sent Heap an elections agreement proposal on April 12 but has not heard back, Lesko posted on X Monday.