September 30, 2026. One report. Four officials. Technology changes. The oath does not.
Source: Elections: What Was Said When the Cameras Were Rolling
This cut is the chamber in order, not a new charge. Vice Chair Debbie Lesko opened by hoping the equipment transition would go well, then told Recorder Justin Heap why the machines are split. For years the Recorder’s Office and the Elections Department shared equipment. Then he sued. The settlement took a long time. She said she was glad it was done and that she wants the offices to work together.
Heap said the suit did not come out of the blue. It followed a long lead-up after the new Board took office in January 2025. Sharing the county’s existing equipment was his request. He said the Board’s IT side demanded a divide, both sides signed it, and he will execute it. The warning was operational: 46 sites, overnight trucks, a few hours on emergency-voting morning, and a burden that now sits on the Board’s staff. He offered to modify and share. He did not want a late open blamed on his office.
Lesko asked whether other Arizona counties keep the equipment separate. Heap said most small counties run early voting only at the recorder’s office. Pinal is the exception that proves the point: the recorder and the elections director are the same office, so the machines are not split. Maricopa, he said, is a larger animal. Lesko said she wished they could share again, then reached for a word and corrected it — installed, then sworn — and said Heap had threatened to sue before she took the oath. She asked him to stop, so they could work together.
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Chair Kate Brophy McGee redirected to questions on the report. Supervisor Mark Stewart asked to hear from elections staff on whether they can do the morning’s work. The Chair said no. She would take the comments in good faith. She did not want the settlement reopened. Then she said the line: “You’ve taken a staff-level concern and elevated it to this level.” She sent it back to staff meetings.
That is what the cameras caught. Hear it and weigh it.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:17
A county this size does not get a dress rehearsal. The concern was spoken. The staff were not. Ask the Board, on the next agenda, who owns the plan for those 46 sites.
What was said is now part of the record.
