Tempe councilman ‘mad as hell’ over Maricopa County recorder staff moving election equipment

Newly released surveillance video of Maricopa County Recorder’s Office employees wheeling a ballot scanner out of the county’s election center has reignited a monthslong feud between Recorder Justin Heap and the Board of Supervisors, with each side calling the other liars.

Tempe Councilman Randy Keating, whose city’s election was underway when the scanner was removed, reacted to the video Friday on KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

“That dereliction of duty is now directly affecting the city that I represent and I am mad as hell about it,” Keating said.

The dispute over removed election equipment

On March 12, as results were being tabulated for a Tempe election, two recorder’s office employees removed a scanner from the Maricopa County Election & Tabulation Center, loaded it into an unmarked pickup truck and drove away.

It was returned about 50 minutes later.

Video surveillance of the incident was released this week.

At issue is why the equipment was removed, whether the removal was authorized and who owned it.

Two board members said a human resources complaint found that an employee of Recorder Justin Heap removed what appeared to be provisional ballot affidavit envelopes from a secure area, even though a count later found that all ballots were accounted for.

The board said it replaced the equipment for about $70,000. The county attorney’s office also appointed a special prosecutor whose criminal investigation is ongoing.

The situation is a source of frustration for Keating.

“We are the client in this relationship with the county recorder. The city of Tempe pays the county a significant amount of money to administer our elections,” Keating said.

Keating demanded the county preserve all records and said legal action is still being considered.

Recorder Justin Heap says its much ado about nothing

Heap’s office calls the board’s account false and politically timed.

In a statement, Heap’s office said the scanner was bought entirely with recorder’s office funds and was in storage, not in use.

Those envelopes held previously voided ballots whose barcodes an employee photocopied to test the scanner before returning them.

No ballots ever left the building, the office said. Heap believes the supervisors revived the allegations only after a string of court losses in the ongoing dispute over election duties.

“I have lost confidence in the board’s integrity, its willingness to follow the law and its ability to engage in good-faith cooperation. But even after everything that has occurred, I remain stunned by a board willing to threaten, slander and publicly attack county employees who have no meaningful ability to defend themselves,” said Heap.

Both sides go to court Monday

This is just the latest in the contentious relationship between the board and the newly elected recorder.

Much of that broader fight goes before a Maricopa County judge on Monday in back-to-back hearings: one on Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell’s motion for a temporary restraining order and one on Heap’s bid to hold the board in contempt of an April 16 ruling.

The underlying question over who controls elections in Arizona’s largest county remains unresolved as early voting for the July 21 primary begins June 24.

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