(The Center Square) – The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution outlining the locations of drop boxes for the upcoming early voting period without consulting Recorder Justin Heap.
The board approved the resolution while it continues to deal with an ongoing lawsuit with Heap about who runs specific election functions.
In April, a judge ruled in favor of Heap, saying the board members need to hand over control of specific election functions to his office.
The board sought a stay of the motion, but the Arizona Superior Court denied it. The board announced it will appeal the lower court’s decision.
“Our job is to deliver secure, accurate and stable elections for Maricopa County voters. That takes careful planning and steady leadership, not rushed decisions driven by uncertain court rulings,” Board of Supervisors Chair Kate Brophy McGee said in a statement to The Center Square.
“We look forward to presenting our argument to the Arizona Court of Appeals,” she said.
In response to the board’s approval of the resolution on Wednesday, Heap said he was not consulted about the drop-box locations.
“The law is not optional. The Court has already ruled that the Board does not possess unlimited authority over election administration, yet the Board continues attempting to exercise powers Arizona law assigns to the Recorder,” Heap said.
“Voters deserve lawful, professional election administration, not political gamesmanship and last-minute public ambushes,” he added.
Heap said he was not given any time to review the proposed locations.
Supervisor Mark Stewart told The Center Square that the Maricopa County Elections Department and the recorder’s team worked together to compile a list of drop-box ballot locations for early voting, adding that these negotiations had been ongoing for a few months.
The problem arose when the board put forth a resolution about the drop-box locations without collaborating with Heap, he said.
Stewart told The Center Square that he had a discussion with Heap about the drop-box locations and said Heap was fine with them, but Heap just wanted to be able to sign off on them.
If the board had gone to Heap and discussed the proposed drop-box ballot locations and procedures, none of this would have happened, and the item would have gone to the consent agenda, he said.
According to Stewart, the board discussed the resolution in executive session on Monday, then added it to the agenda for the upcoming meeting on Tuesday morning.
On Wednesday, Heap’s attorney, James Rogers of the America First Legal Foundation, sent the board a letter before its meeting.
In the letter, Rogers said the board’s effort to control the drop-box locations could expose board members and staff to criminal liability.
“Only the Recorder has the power to designate these locations, and only drop boxes established under the Recorder’s authority can satisfy the statutory and regulatory requirements for lawful operation,” the letter said.
Stewart called the letter a “little over the top.”
Regarding this whole situation, Stewart said his “only goal is to try to create some bridge of solutions for the public. It’s not what the voters expect; they expect us to just get things done.”
“Now it’s a drama fest, and it’s unfortunate because a phone call or a meeting would’ve solved this,” he said.
Despite the ongoing division between the board and recorder, Stewart said the staff members in the recorder’s office and county election department “are working well together.”
Stewart said the drop boxes will be located at “city halls and monitored locations throughout the valley.”
“People will be able to use them to drop off their ballots,” he added.
Stewart said the elections in Maricopa County will “work fine” and voters will not “have to worry about anything.”
Earlier in May, Stewart sought to have a judge appoint a professional mediator to broker negotiations between the board and the recorder.
However, he told The Center Square that a judge rejected his request because the judge “didn’t feel like the two parties could work in good faith with one another.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to make any headway, and people are just butting heads,” Stewart said.
“We don’t need any more outlandish letters back and forth [or] name-calling. We need business-minded folks to get to a table and get this thing figured out,” he added.
The Center Square reached out to Heap’s office for comment, but did not hear back before press time.
