Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap hopeful that Supreme Court will rule swiftly

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap is hoping the Arizona Supreme Court issues a swift ruling in his dispute with the Board of Supervisors over control of elections.

“They gave us basically from the order three days to have our briefs in, which is, in court speak, an incredibly short amount of time,” Heap said on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Friday. “I think the Supreme Court definitely sees, ‘look, this has got to be resolved here because we’re in the middle of election.'”

Heap took his case to Supreme Court after an Arizona Court of Appeals panel blocked a lower court judge’s injunction ordering the board to transfer certain election responsibilities and resources to the Recorder’s Office.

He wants the high court to accept jurisdiction of the case, vacate the stay and compel the board to comply with an April Superior Court ruling in the case.

On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court agreed to modify the Court of Appeals stay order so that settlement negotiations can proceed, but the justices did not rule on whether the stay should be lifted.

About 1.4 million early ballots were mailed to voters Wednesday ahead of the July 21 primary.

Heap, who sued the board in June over election responsibilities, said supervisors continue to run in-person early voting locations that state law places under his office, even after a Superior Court judge ruled in his favor earlier this year.

“The board is continuing to run the early voting sites. They have not provided me with the staff or direction, and in fact, when we have tried to manage the early voting sites, they send instructions to their poll workers and their staff not to regard anything the recorder directs,” Heap said.

County supervisor continues to blame Justin Heap for communication breakdown

Heap said the dispute should not affect the voter experience and pointed to a new option this cycle: Voters who present identification at an early voting location can have their ballot envelope stamped as ID-verified, bypassing signature verification and speeding up the count.

Maricopa County Supervisor Thomas Galvin, appearing on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show Thursday, said he expects the court to provide clarity.

Galvin said the board has tried for more than a year to reach a negotiated agreement with Heap over which office controls in-person early voting sites and related election resources, but that talks have repeatedly broken down.

“I directly negotiated with him in April of 2025. He then texted my colleagues that night and says, ‘Hey, we’re 95% of the way there,'” Galvin said. “(Heap) disappeared for five weeks after that, and then he filed a lawsuit.”

A Superior Court judge has since ordered both offices to go to mediation before the case moves forward.

“The nice thing about the law is that if you follow the law, we don’t have to like each other,” Heap said. “If we just go back to following the law, we can run elections smoothly together.”

Under state law, elected county supervisors and recorders share election duties.

KTAR News Senior Editor Kevin Stone contributed to this report.

Related

Arizona Supreme Court takes action in Maricopa County elections disputeMaricopa County supervisor slams Recorder Justin Heap over 'disturbing' election security breachWhy hasn’t Hobbs met with investigators in AG’s ‘pay-to-play’ probe? Governor respondsExclusive: Gov. Katie Hobbs, John Giles talk debates, water in wide-ranging interviewAZ Political Podcast: Warren Petersen pitches a ‘non-partisan’ AG’s officeWater, housing costs top Arizona voters’ focus, statewide survey finds