Maricopa County elections fight could cause problems for upcoming Glendale and Goodyear elections

A power struggle between the Maricopa County Recorder and the Board of Supervisors could cause problems for some Glendale and Goodyear voters in the cities’ upcoming elections.

The West Valley cities are each holding elections on May 20 to deal with local issues, including proposed changes to Goodyear’s city charter and citizen referendums related to a major resort development in Glendale.

The elections will be conducted entirely by mail, meaning all eligible voters will receive a ballot sent to their home whether or not they signed up to receive mail-in ballots in regular primary and general elections.

The administration of those elections could be complicated after Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap cancelled an election shared services agreement signed by former Recorder Stephen Richer and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors last year, before Heap took office in January.

Under Arizona law, election administration duties are split between county recorders and supervisors, so in practice, the two sides in each of Arizona’s 15 counties have typically signed agreements to spell out their specific responsibilities.

Since 2019, the Maricopa County Elections Department — under the supervision of the board — has provided locations for mail-in voters to obtain replacement ballots if their existing ballot is damaged or otherwise unusable. Voters can also request replacement ballots by phone or by emailing the county.

Without an agreement in place, it’s unclear who will provide that in-person service to voters.

The county Elections Department has the equipment to replace ballots, but the Recorder’s Office may now be in charge of that duty.

“I told Heap in December not to terminate the existing SSA because of situations like this,” Maricopa County Board Chair Thomas Galvin said. “He didn’t listen and terminated it in January.”

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The Recorder’s Office — which recently said it is in a “battle” with the supervisors over election responsibilities — said that terminating the agreement is complicating the situation.

“This is one of the central issues with the current disagreement: exactly who is responsible for what in the May election, which will be all mail,” said Sam Stone, Heap’s chief of staff. “Replacement ballots will be available by mail, and the county has all the equipment needed for on-site replacement production, but who would operate those sites needs to be defined in a replacement SSA, which — among other issues — is why Recorder Heap is pushing so hard to have a new SSA in place as soon as practicable.”

In a statement, Heap’s office said he cancelled the agreement signed by Richer because he believed it effectively shut him out of election administration, something the board denies.

The cancelled agreement had made two major changes: consolidating the recorder’s IT staff under the supervision of the board and giving the board authority over early ballot processing, a duty that can be overseen by either side under state law. The Recorder’s Office retained responsibilities required by state law, such as voter registration and signature verification of early ballots.

Heap threatened to sue the board if it won’t renegotiate the deal.

According to the Elections Department, the two sides are talking about how to handle the upcoming elections.

“We have all the personnel and equipment ready and agreements in place with the jurisdictions to provide this service again for the May 2025 elections,” according to a statement from the department. “Elections Department staff are currently coordinating the final logistics with the Recorder's Office so that these jurisdictional elections are run smoothly and in accordance with state law.”

So far, the cities aren’t aware of potential disruptions.

“The Clerk’s Office hasn’t been notified by the county of any changes to the services they are providing,” Glendale spokeswoman Lesley Miller said.

A Goodyear spokesperson provided a similar statement.

"The City of Goodyear has not received any communication from Maricopa County about a change or potential change in our service agreement. At this time, we plan to run our May election as planned," according to the statement.

According to the county, ballots will be mailed to Glendale and Goodyear voters on April 23, and voters can request a replacement ballot by mail until May 9.