Maricopa County settles election fight, gives recorder early voting control
Maricopa County handed its recorder early voting control and $20.9 million, ending a year-and-a-half fight over who runs elections in Arizona's biggest county.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a settlement by a 3-1 vote that gives Recorder Justin Heap control of early voting and commits $20.9 million to a new information technology system. County officials said mediated negotiations led by Judge Christopher Coury produced the agreement after a year-and-a-half dispute over how elections are run in Arizona’s most populous county.
The deal shifts day-to-day power inside county government. Under its terms, the recorder’s office will run early voting, while the Board of Supervisors will keep control of emergency voting and tabulation. The agreement also draws a clearer line between the Board’s Elections Department and the Recorder’s Office, ending the overlap that fueled the fight over who controlled ballot drop boxes and other election responsibilities.
Heap, a Republican state representative and Trump ally elected county recorder in 2024, had pressed for a court-aligned proposal after an Arizona Supreme Court decision. The county’s signed settlement terms also spell out that early election boards will be appointed and overseen to canvass and tally early ballots received, putting a more formal structure around the part of the process that has been at the center of the conflict.
The dispute had become a flash point ahead of the July 21, 2026 primary election, with Maricopa County officials and Heap at odds over whether ballot drop boxes counted as early voting locations under Arizona law. That question helped turn a local jurisdictional fight into a broader test of election administration in a county that has been central to the state’s post-2020 voting battles.
County officials said the agreement was intended to create a seamless experience for voters while supporting safe, secure and transparent elections. They said the settlement resolved the election operations dispute, but it also leaves Heap with new operational control and the county board with a defined role in the machinery that will oversee voting in the state’s largest county before the next primary.
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