Arizona mail-in ballot ID rules fuel dispute between Justin Heap and ACLU

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap is demanding an apology from the ACLU of Arizona after the group said a poll worker gave voters wrong information about dropping off their mail-in ballots.

In a letter Tuesday to Heap and the county Board of Supervisors, the ACLU said its volunteers and supporters went to drop off ballots Saturday at the early voting center in the A.E. Building in downtown Phoenix. A poll worker told them they had to show identification, the group said, without explaining that showing ID is optional.

Under a new Arizona law, voters can show ID when dropping off a mail-in ballot so it skips signature verification and gets counted faster. They don’t have to. Voters can still drop their ballot in the box without ID.

Heap said the claims were never checked.

“All I can do really is condemn what the ACLU has done here,” Heap told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday.

He said his office spoke with the poll workers at that site, who remembered the group and said everyone was told both options. Signs outside polling places also explain the choice, he said.

“They deserve to be treated with gratitude, not attacked with unsubstantiated claims and rumors,” Heap said of poll workers. “I think that the ACLU really needs to apologize.”

The ACLU said it contacted officials privately to give them a chance to fix any training gaps before going public.

“As an election official in one of the nation’s largest counties, Recorder Heap should be taking constituent concerns seriously and ensuring that our elections run smoothly, not engaging in divisive rhetoric against organizations working to protect the right to vote,” said Darrell Hill, policy director for the ACLU of Arizona.

Heap said about 70% of voters bringing in mail ballots are choosing to show ID.

What voters need to know about mail-in ballot

It’s too late to safely mail a ballot back.

Voters can still drop off their mail-in ballots at any voting location through Election Day, with or without ID.

Early voting ends Friday at 7 p.m.

Heap said ballots dropped off on Election Day should be counted by noon the next day, even if there are as many as 250,000.

KTAR News 92.3 FM reporter Balin Overstolz-McNair contributed to this report.

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