PHOENIX — A heated dispute between Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap and the county's Board of Supervisors has escalated, with the board now requiring the newly elected recorder to provide a written report and testify under oath about conflicting statements regarding voter disenfranchisement.
Do you have a concern in your community or a news tip? We want to hear from you!
Connect with us: share@abc15.com
The controversy centers on contradictory claims about election management and voter access. Staff from Heap's office testified in court that a lack of resources — including mail-sorting machines for early ballots — led to some legal votes going uncounted in past elections.
However, Heap later told the board that no voter disenfranchisement has occurred since he took office.
"We're not hearing from a guy who filed a lawsuit against us. This is planting our flag — if we don't hear from you," said Supervisor Thomas Galvin, District 2. "This is how elections are supposed to be done, because we still have to follow statutes."
Under state law, the board can require county officers to testify under oath. Supervisors say removal from office would only be considered in cases involving criminal conduct.
Breakdown in negotiations
The larger conflict involves a Shared Services Agreement that outlines how responsibilities are divided between the Recorder's Office and the Board of Supervisors in running elections.
Board leaders say they sent Heap a new proposal on Feb. 11 offering his office control over early in-person voting and a division of information technology services.
The proposal includes additional IT positions in the Recorder's Office until systems can be fully separated, a partnership in selecting vote center locations that follow objective criteria and federal civil rights laws, joint troubleshooting at voting locations, collaboration on poll worker training and joint hiring of temporary recruiters to staff elections.
Vice Chair Debbie Lesko, District 4, called it a "fair offer."
"Justin Heap wants control of all IT functions; we offered to split them. He wants control of in-person early voting; we're fine with that. This is a fair offer," Lesko said. "The ball is in the Recorder's court. All he has to do is reply."
When no agreement was reached, the board voted unanimously to adopt a resolution and policy outlining how election operations will proceed without a shared services agreement.
Board Chair Kate Brophy McGee criticized Heap's approach.
"Justin Heap likes to make a big deal about separation of powers, yet he repeatedly runs to the judicial branch to intervene in matters that should be worked out between elected officials," she said. "Since Mr. Heap has not provided a serious response to our latest SSA offer, we felt it was important to state publicly and transparently how we will go about navigating some of the most contentious issues between our respective offices."
Deal falls apart
Negotiations over the agreement appeared close to completion last spring. According to the board, Heap texted supervisors after an April 11, 2025, meeting saying they were in agreement on "95%" of the terms.
But weeks later, Heap's office submitted what it called a "final offer" with more than 170 changes to the draft agreement. He then filed a lawsuit against the board.
"We thought we had a deal and then we got sued. It was totally unnecessary and a complete waste of tax dollars," Galvin said, adding that a judge has encouraged both sides to resolve the dispute outside of court.
Recorder defends position
Heap has defended his position, saying cooperation is necessary but that he will not surrender the authority granted to his office under state law.
"I understand that we need to cooperate, but I'm not willing to hand my statutory authorities over to the board of supervisors," Heap said during the public meeting.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo, District 5, said he believes transparency is essential.
"I've worked in elections. I've worked with recorders from both major political parties. I've never seen a recorder so blatantly and flagrantly thumb his nose at the voters by not being transparent, by refusing to answer questions until he's literally compelled by law to show up," Gallardo said.
"That said, I look forward to reading the report Recorder Heap and his team compiled."
With litigation ongoing and no shared services agreement in place, both sides say they want elections to run smoothly and securely ahead of 2026.
For now, the board's newly adopted policy will guide election operations while the legal battle and political tension continue.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
