Phoenix – Top Election Official One of the most important swing counties in the country It is suing the Maricopa County Executive Board over allegations that it is trying to gain more control over how the election is being managed.
County Recorder Justin Heap He filed a lawsuit in state court on Thursday.
heapa former GOP state lawmaker who questioned election management in Arizona’s most populous county, has been in conflict with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for months over an agreement to split election operations between the two offices.
After taking office in January, Heap ended his previous contract reached between his predecessor and the board. He alleged in the lawsuit he had curbed his authority to hold elections by reducing funding and IT resources for the recorder’s office.
Last year’s agreement also empowered the board on early voting processing, which drew criticism from the heap in his case.
Heap is asking the court to issue an order that will cancel what the lawsuit calls “illegal” actions by the board and require the board to fund the costs they deem necessary.
“Desiring free, fair and honest election civil rights for all Maricopa County voters despite the misinformation on these issues and gas lighting for the public is not my job as a county recorder, but it is the right thing to do and a mission that I am completely committed to achieving,” Heap said Thursday.
The board’s chairman and vice-chairman called the legal challenge frivolous and said the heap wasted taxpayer money by going to court.
Negotiations between the offices have been ongoing since the beginning of the year, and the board said in a statement that things appear to be on track after the April meeting. The board said just a few weeks later, the heap was back with what was called the final offer, which included dozens of changes.
HEAP alleges in the lawsuit that the board rejected the agreement proposed in late May. In a statement, America First Legal said the board has shifted key heap duties and voted separately for a temporary budget that lacks recorder offices.
“From day one, Recorder Heap has made a promise that the law will not allow him to maintain,” said board chair Thomas Galvin. “Arizona’s election law portrays election management between the supervisor and the county commission of recorders to ensure there is a check and balance, and the recorder heap clearly does not understand the responsibility of his position.”
Following President Donald Trump’s 2020 defeat, Maricopa County has become the epicenter of election conspiracy theory. Heap has not said that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but he said the state’s practices for handling early votes are volatile and questioned how the votes will be transported, processed and preserved once they are submitted. Last year, Heap proposed a failed bill to remove Arizona Multi-stage effort To maintain a voter list.
The predecessor of the heap, Stephen Richerwas responsibly replied in several GOP circles to defend the legitimacy of the 2020 and 2022 elections. There, Democrats, including former President Joe Biden and Governor Katie Hobbs, won by Razor the Margin. Trump He won in 2024 along with Arizona and other battlefield states.
