Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap filed a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) last week against the Maricopa County Board Supervisors (MCBOS) to stop them from allowing an allegedly unauthorized third-party and its subcontractors from accessing the county’s voter registration database. Heap has been in litigation with the MCBOS over the agency transferring some of his office responsibilities to themselves.
Heap said in a press release, “Under Arizona law, access, management, and control of the voter registration database are assigned exclusively to the County Recorder’s Office. (See A.R.S. §§ 16-151, 16-161 through 16-169.)”
“This unilateral action by the Board of Supervisors violates Arizona law and undermines elections in Maricopa County,” Heap said. “My office will take all necessary legal steps to safeguard the voter registration system and uphold our statutory duty to protect voter information.”
America First Legal (AFL) filed the motion, which declared that the move was “an instrument of delay and leverage aimed squarely at the Recorder’s Office and Recorder Heap’s duties under Arizona law.” AFL said the MCBOS is setting up a 14-week audit that would delay any transfer of Heap’s powers back to him until after the 2026 election.
MCBOS responded with its own statement. “The Board has always intended to hire an independent, third-party vendor to perform a systemwide assessment to honor the best interest of Maricopa County’s voters,” MCBOS said. “The Board’s plan calls for a reputable, experienced, professional vendor to access and analyze the County’s data, systems, software, security and credentials and additionally adheres strictly to confidentiality.”
The dispute began when previous Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and the MCBOS, during the last month most of them were in office, executed a new Shared Services Agreement that took effect on December 10, 2024, stripping the incoming Recorder of significant election responsibilities and drastically shrinking his budget and staff. As a result, the Maricopa County Republican Committee demanded that Supervisor Thomas Galvin step down as chair in March, citing his actions resulting in concerned Maricopa County residents being unable to speak to the MCBOS about their election integrity concerns.
Heap was elected to office last year on an election integrity platform. Voters ousted Richer in the Republican primary due to concerns he was ignoring election lawbreaking.
See thread at the Epoch Times Arizona