Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap

🚨 MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERVISORS’ FLAWED EARLY VOTING PLAN UPDATE This week I shared my response to the Board’s demand that I approve their poorly designed, proposed early voting plan. The cliff notes version? The Board is lying to voters yet again. Here’s the full story. ⬇️ I explained my concern that the current early voting plan they proposed would restrict voter access and likely disenfranchise voters. Instead of addressing those concerns, the Board did what it often does — resorted to insults and political spin. They mockingly asserted that the spreadsheet they sent my office contained a “second tab” supposedly contained 160+ alternative early voting locations and that my office simply failed to read the full document. Unsurprisingly, the Board never produced the spreadsheet they say I was given. I don’t often respond to mockery, but when public trust is at stake, facts matter. I'm going to do what the Board did not, and post the spreadsheet here so the public can see through the Board's lie. As you can see, the alleged second tab is NOT 160+ alternate early voting sites for the Recorder to chose from. It’s a recycled masterlist of ALL 253 voting locations from 2024 including early voting, emergency voting, and Election Day voting centers combined. Of this 253 total locations only 26 served as early voting sites in the 2024 cycle and none of them have been confirmed as of Board's deadline yesterday. When the Board claimed that the second tab contained 160+ alternate early voting locations they were lying. Mockery is easy. Transparency is harder.

I have serious concerns that the proposed early voting plan [the Board] provided makes voting inconvenient and inaccessible for a large number of Maricopa County voters. I cannot support a plan that does not provide all voters a reasonably equal opportunity to vote. I remain willing to work in good faith. But cooperation does not mean rubber-stamping a plan my office had no role in building, and which fails to adequately protect the voters. Read my full response to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors below ⬇️

STATEMENT HERE: recorder.maricopa.gov/news/SAVE-Data…

🚨 NON-CITIZENS VOTING IN ARIZONA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — Using the Department of Homeland Security’s SAVE database the Maricopa County Recorder's Office has identified 60 non-citizens who previously voted in Maricopa County elections. As part of an effort to confirm full ballot eligibility for 61,681 Maricopa County voters affected by the “MVD-DPOC” issue, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office conducted a review of these records using the federal SAVE database.   That review confirmed U.S. citizenship and full ballot eligibility for 58,782 voters. Those individuals’ registrations have already been updated to ensure they are able to receive a full ballot in future elections.   However, the review also identified 137 registered voters who are not U.S. citizens. Of those, 60 individuals have voted in prior elections. The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is referring the identified non-citizens who have cast ballots to both the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for further review and any appropriate action.   Our office extends its appreciation to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and @Sec_Noem for expanding access to the SAVE database. We look forward to continued collaboration to ensure election integrity and that only eligible citizens participate in Maricopa County elections.

🚨 UPDATE: COURT VICTORY! Just a few minutes ago, the Court delivered a huge victory for election integrity by issuing a Temporary Restraining Order to the Board of Supervisors blocking, for now, their sham subpoenas and preventing them from bullying and intimidating my employees. As I’ve said from day one, I’m committed to an honest, transparent and lawful election system. The Board’s intransigence continues to be the only sticking point to securing Maricopa County elections and restoring confidence for all voters, regardless of political affiliation.

🚨 BREAKING ELECTION INTEGRITY UPDATE My office is currently involved in an Election Integrity lawsuit against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for their unlawful seizure of my statutory duties. Late today, I learned that the Board has subpoenaed my staff — the same staff members who just one week ago testified against the Board in Superior Court. This is an apparent and naked attempt by the Board to intimidate and bully County Recorder staff, and unduly influence the pending court ruling, all while the Board continues to refuse to work in good faith with the Maricopa County Recorder's Office. Their actions are beyond inappropriate. My staff has bent over backwards to work with the Board, yet despite our earnest efforts the Board continues to engage in unhinged, emotional, and unprofessional behavior. Recorder Justin Heap Maricopa County Recorder

🚨 UPDATE: COURT VICTORY! Just a few minutes ago, the Court delivered a huge victory for election integrity by issuing a Temporary Restraining Order to the Board of Supervisors blocking, for now, their sham subpoenas and preventing them from bullying and intimidating my employees. As I’ve said from day one, I’m committed to an honest, transparent and lawful election system. The Board’s intransigence continues to be the only sticking point to securing Maricopa County elections and restoring confidence for all voters, regardless of political affiliation.

COURT VICTORY — Today, the Court issued a decisive ruling in our Election Integrity lawsuit against Maricopa County, entirely dismissing the countersuit filed against our office by County Attorney Rachel Mitchell. This important decision is consistent with the law and firmly establishes a fundamental principle: elected officials have the right to retain legal counsel of their own choosing and cannot be compelled to accept representation selected by the County Attorney. I am grateful to my attorney, James Rogers, of America First Legal, whose work on this matter has been exemplary. This ruling marks the first significant victory in our ongoing effort to restore the Recorder’s statutory authority and ensure the honest, trustworthy, and lawful elections that the voters of Maricopa County deserve.

I'm fighting for secure, trustworthy & lawful elections in Maricopa County. Today, the Board of Supervisors threw a temper tantrum. Their behavior reinforced why it was necessary to sue them over their illegal attempted hijacking of my statutory duties. I won't back down.

Instead of holding his own staff accountable for misplacing thousands of Election Day ballots and illegally seizing control of the Recorder’s statutory responsibilities, Chairman Galvin chose to attack the only part of the process that worked flawlessly. Sorry, Chairman, my staff refuses to commit felonies just because you prefer we wave through signatures that can't be verified. And as a matter of record, MCRO’s new signature-verification system increased security, added full bipartisan oversight, and finished the job in a fraction of the time of past Recorders.

@Datapleaz Yeah, that's pretty much exactly how it went down.

Justin - I'm not reading this wrong, thy said this morning they were found a blue drop box and not where they were supposed to be on election night. Then when you just relayed what they said, they changed their story and blamed you for misinformation. The COUNTY has a history of this from my view @rach_ic @JenWEsq

It’s been a very busy day for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. Today, the Board discovered they had lost thousands of ballots, then dropped the problem on the Recorder to fix. They presented one set of facts to the Recorder and the Media in the morning, then did a complete 180° — releasing new "facts" late in the day that completely contradicted everything multiple members of the Board’s election staff had said previously. Then they tried to spin it into a lie about the Recorder spreading “misinformation”, instead of just telling the public the truth. Here’s the real story: ➡️ The Maricopa Board of Supervisors made yet another election mistake, which has further damaged public trust in our elections. …All those political gymnastics today must have been exhausting for the Supervisors.

RECORDER'S ELECTION UPDATE: My office has completed signature verification on all 2288 of the missing ballot packets we received from the Board this morning. In the last hours we have contacted all remaining voters with signatures requiring additional verification to inform them of the need to verify their signatures prior to 5:00 pm tonight. In addition, we have also sent the list of voters in need of signature curing to the political parties so they can assist in reaching affected voters. If you receive a call from us, please contact 602-506-1511 or visit BeBallotReady.vote to verify your identity and signature prior to 5:00 pm tonight so your ballot can be counted.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Maricopa County Recorder Responds to Board of Supervisors Election Error Affecting 2,288 Ballots This morning, our office was notified that 2,288 ballots were discovered left behind at a Ballot Replacement Site in Fountain Hills. These ballots were forgotten and left unattended by poll workers employed by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. This mistake is deeply disappointing. Under Arizona law, Ballot Replacement Sites fall under the statutory responsibilities of the Recorder’s Office, yet despite the clarity of the law the Board of Supervisors has continued to improperly control these locations. This latest error undermines voter confidence and highlights the ongoing problems caused by the Board’s continued seizure of functions that statutorily belong to the Recorder. Our immediate priority is to ensure no voter is disenfranchised as a result of the Board’s mistake. The Recorder’s Office is rapidly processing and signature-verifying the impacted ballots to ensure that all lawful votes are counted. Because the signature-curing deadline under A.R.S. § 16-550(A) is 5:00 p.m. today, our team is working urgently to contact every impacted voter, multiple times if necessary, to ensure their ballot is cured and counted. While errors can occur in a county as large as Maricopa, the repeated mistakes over the past many election cycles have eroded public trust in Maricopa County’s elections. The Recorder’s Office remains committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring that every valid vote is counted despite the Board’s error. bit.ly/43U0sqj

RECORDER’S ELECTION UPDATE: ✅ All calls to voters with signature inconsistencies have been completed. Finishing both signature verification and voter calls within 48 hours of Election Day shatters all previous timeframes for elections with more than 100,000 Election Day drop-offs. If you have received a notification or call from us indicating a signature issue, please call 602-506-1511 or visit  BeBallotReady.vote to confirm your identity and signature, so your ballot can be counted.    Arizona State Law allows for voters to confirm their signatures up until 5:00 PM on Friday, November 7.  The early completion of these calls allows voters who have been notified ample time to confirm their signatures and to ensure their vote counts! Only voters who were contacted need to take action.

RECORDER'S ELECTION ANNOUCEMENT: The Recorder's office has completed the Signature Verification process on all 117,000+ ballot packets received on election day. Those ballots have been handed off to the Board's Election Department for tabulation.

RECORDER’S ELECTION UPDATE: Late last night, our office received over 117,000 ballot packets dropped off on Election Day. This is a significantly higher turnout than expected for a bond election based on historical data. In prior elections, similar surges often created multi-day delays before results were updated. Thanks to proactive planning, our office was prepared for this surge. Over the past several weeks, we developed contingency workflows to ensure prompt processing in the event of higher-than-anticipated Election Day returns. We have already shifted additional resources to signature verification and will finish verification in a matter of hours, not days. As a result of this planning and the hard work of our team, we expect to complete signature verification today and will deliver all eligible ballots to the Board's Election Department for tabulation. We will then shift our focus to curing any remaining ballots that require voter contact. This election demonstrates how proactive planning and modernized workflows allow us to serve voters faster without compromising accuracy or security.