Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap

Maricopa County Recorder ▪️ “It’s time to make our elections more transparent, secure, and honest. I will.”

[America First Legal @America1stLegal]

🚨BREAKING — A Maricopa County judge just ordered the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to appear at a hearing to “show cause why they should not be adjudged in civil contempt for willful, continuing, and escalating noncompliance” with the court’s election integrity order.

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 UPDATE: RECORD CORRECTS THE BOARD'S MANUFACTURED SCANDAL AND MALACIOUS SLANDER.

The Board spent 3 months sitting on these baseless allegations. Then, after losing in court again and facing contempt proceedings, it launched a smear campaign against career election employees on the eve of an election.

The facts are simple: no live ballots were removed, no election was compromised, and the envelope scanner belongs to the Recorder's Office.

This isn't accountability. It's a manufactured scandal designed to distract from the Board's own legal failures and target public servants who cannot defend themselves. If the Board wants a political fight, it should have the courage to have that fight with me, not hurl false allegations, and slander against my staff from the safety of the bully pulpit.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

RECORDER HEAP RESPONDS TO SUPERVISORS’ LIES REGARDING RECORDER'S OFFICE EMPLOYEES

In recent days, members of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have made a series of public statements regarding Recorder's Office employees and equipment owned by the Recorder's Office. Those statements are contradicted by the facts, refuted by the available evidence, and appear designed to manufacture a political controversy where none exists in an attempt to inappropriately influence pending court proceedings.

The public deserves an accurate account of what actually occurred.

Read full statement here:
https://t.co/BvsAAqZxCk

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 BREAKING: LEGAL UPDATE
Yesterday, I filed an emergency motion with the Court after armed sheriff's deputies appeared at the homes of three Recorder's Office employees and informed them they were under criminal investigation.

This began after Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell acted on false allegations made by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and the Elections Department against my employees.

What was their alleged offense?

Attempting to use equipment County records show was purchased entirely with Recorder's Office funds and is owned exclusively by the Recorder's Office.

The same equipment the Court has already found was unlawfully taken from the Recorder's Office.

This is the most extreme escalation in a long campaign of retaliatory actions taken by the Board against my staff. 

Over the last year, the Board has repeatedly targeted Recorder's Office employees with false accusations, personal attacks, and retaliatory actions for doing their jobs. Multiple members of my senior staff have required outside counsel to defend against malicious actions taken against them by the Board. My employees have been threatened, doxed, and publicly accused of misconduct for simply carrying out their official duties under Arizona law. 

This is not cooperation. This is retaliation.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

BREAKING: Recorder Seeks Emergency Court Intervention After Board Targets Election Workers with Criminal Investigations

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap has filed an emergency motion with the Superior Court after armed sheriff’s deputies appeared at the homes of multiple Recorder’s Office employees and informed them that they were under criminal investigation.
Read full statement here: https://t.co/nQuZa5sDsU

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

For 18 months, the Board refused negotiations. Then they lost in court. Six weeks later, they're still refusing to comply and facing contempt proceedings and sanctions for ignoring the Court's order.

I've offered to sit down with the Board and our respective legal counsel so we can hammer out a written legal agreement.

The Board refused.

What the Board wants is a series of public hearings where it controls the agenda, controls the questions, controls the discussion, and controls the headlines.

If they wanted solutions, they'd sit down with counsel. What they want is another political stage to continue the same public spectacle they've been using for months while ignoring the Court's rulings.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

BREAKING: Recorder Heap Statement on Board's Rejection of Negotiation Proposal

The Board of Supervisors' latest proposal is not a serious effort to resolve this dispute. It is the latest chapter in a pattern of delay, obstruction, and political theater that has now persisted for more than eighteen months. READ FULL STATEMENT HERE: https://t.co/LL4uqN8hVy

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

Read the full statement here: https://t.co/IMwwCuxDxE

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 MARICOPA ELECTIONS UPDATE

43 days ago, the Court ruled the Board of Supervisors was acting in violation of the law.

43 days later, they still haven't returned the IT staff, systems, and resources the Court ordered restored. Instead, they continued interfering in election functions assigned by law to the Recorder, including directing poll workers to disregard instructions from Recorder staff at Recorder-run election sites.

Yesterday, I asked the Court to hold the Board in contempt.

Read full news release here: https://t.co/LSLOg61Hv3

[America First Legal @America1stLegal]

🚨MARICOPA COUNTY ALERT —

The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appears to be attempting to undermine a court order, usurp Recorder Justin Heap’s authority, and keep voters in the dark about a faster way to vote.

AFL’s letter exposes what’s happening.

And it’s explosive.

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

The Board is having a full meltdown because I objected to a resolution unlawfully giving themselves control over ballot drop boxes and declined to appear for a surprise public interrogation on less than an hour's notice.

The Court has already ruled that the Board does not have unlimited authority over elections, yet it continues attempting to exercise powers Arizona law assigns to the Recorder. Voters deserve lawful election administration, not political stunts and last-minute public ambushes.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

Recorder Rejects Board’s Political Theater on Dropbox Resolution

(PHOENIX) – Today, Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap declined the Board of Supervisors’ last-minute demand that he appear before the Board to answer questions regarding a proposed resolution attempting to seize control over ballot drop boxes.
Read more here: https://t.co/IInq0qAgTQ

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

Today, the Superior Court denied the Board’s Motion to Stay.
The law is clear. The Court has been clear. My office stands ready to move forward, comply with the Court’s orders, and prepare for secure and orderly elections in Maricopa County.
The Board's endless campaign of obstruction is not leadership. It is a reckless attempt to preserve control the Board was never legally entitled to exercise.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

BREAKING: Court Denies Board’s Motion to Stay Election Ruling
Today, the Arizona Superior Court denied the Board of Supervisors’ Motion to Stay, delivering yet another decisive loss to the Board in its ongoing attempt to retain powers the Court has already ruled it does not legally possess. Read Recorder Justin Heap's full statement here: https://t.co/n85NYwxqMg

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

@Jellenne @MaricopaVote Yes.
https://t.co/wp2AV60sZ1

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

Maricopa County Recorder Fixes Long-Standing Ballot Return Issue with Updated Envelope Design

The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office has resolved a long-standing issue affecting voters who may receive a ballot affidavit envelope addressed to someone who no longer lives at their residence, an issue that had gone unaddressed through multiple administrations. Read more here: https://t.co/C9stOthzEO

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

Major victory for the rule of law. The court rejected the Board’s power grab and restored the Recorder’s authority as the principal elections officer in the county. With this ruling, we will move forward focused on delivering the secure, transparent, and accessible elections the voters of Maricopa County deserve.

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

Sweeping Victory: Court Delivers Landmark Victory for Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap

The Superior Court of Arizona has issued a sweeping ruling in favor of Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, rejecting the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ attempt to assert control over key election functions in violation of Arizona law.
Read more here including the full court ruling: https://t.co/6Jx25X1zcY

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 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.

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

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 ⬇️

[Maricopa County Recorder's Office @RecordersOffice]

NEW: Recorder Justin Heap has responded to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors’ February 24 letter regarding early in-person voting.

Read the Recorder's letter and view the map of the Board’s proposed early voting locations here: https://t.co/bopBl9bLRG

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

STATEMENT HERE: https://t.co/rDQFz1Yqqd

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 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.

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 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.

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 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

[Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap @azjustinheap]

🚨 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.