Maricopa County Recorder, Board of Supervisors at odds regarding shared responsibilities

MARICOPA COUNTY, Ariz. - Newly elected Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors have not come to terms on a new shared services agreement, known as an SSA.

It determines the roles and responsibilities for Arizona elections.

The backstory:

For 30 years, while Hellen Purcell was the county recorder, the SSA gave the recorder all election responsibilities. In 2018, a new agreement split up roles between the supervisors and the recorder.

Weeks before the new recorder and board took office, a new SSA was signed. Heap says it took away a majority of his election responsibilities, moving them to the board.

That agreement is now terminated as it was signed by outgoing recorder Stephen Richer. Currently, there's no SSA, and it could put Arizona's elections in jeopardy.

What they're saying:

"If the board is not even willing to enter into a good-faith discussion with the recorder of the county, who is the primary elections officer, then maybe we do need to talk about it being consolidated back into this office. As it stands right now, the board is not taking the steps that I would expect and would be appropriate," Heap said in a Feb. 24 interview.

Heap called the board's proposed changes radical, saying they stand in the way of his campaign promises to voters.

"With the exception of signature verification, all of the early voting is now the board's responsibility as well. But, in addition to that, a third of my staff were moved from my office, under the board's management, and including all of my IT department," Heap said.

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap

The other side:

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Thomas Galvin, says otherwise.

"The recorder has only been in office for two months. I would suggest that the recorder just buckle down and do everything he can to learn the position as much as possible," Galvin said. "He thinks a lot of functions, had been, quote unquote, taken away. That’s just simply not the case. We want to work with him on making sure that he understands what his responsibilities are."

The board's decision to relocate certain roles and responsibilities, Galvin says, comes down to efficiency.

Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Thomas Galvin

He explains, "I think that it's important for us to have operational efficiency with elections and the current board of supervisors, my colleagues. That is our number one paramount concern. It's quite clear that the board of supervisors are responsible for handling the ballots after they've left the envelope because we have to tabulate the ballots."

He says he wants to work with Heap, not against him.

"This is what I would call an arranged marriage and even though he's also a Republican, we have two distinct jobs, but we're supposed to work together," Galvin said.

Big picture view:

Hellen Purcel was the Maricopa County recorder for three decades.

Purcel says the board and the country recorder have to come to terms or elections cannot move forward.

"We have elections coming up, so we need to have this settled. Some agreements are going to have to be made and in agreements, not everyone is going to be happy," Purcel said. "The party does not define you. I don’t think that’s the issue. It's differences in people and what they agree on."

'I don't think this is efficient'

Heap says the proposed agreement creates more overlap.

"This new agreement transfers most of my election duties, but leaves some of them, which will require us to transfer ballots back and forth between the board multiple times in the process. So, there's going to be a lot of overlap. I don't think this is efficient, and so, if that was the goal, I think it's failed miserably," Heap said.

In terms of the IT department's relocation, that decision came down to creating a centralized hub. The board says that 70% of IT election functions go through the county supervisors.

IT services have not been removed from the county recorder's office.

Heap says if he and the board cannot sit down and come to terms, he plans to pursue legal action against the board.