Source: Maricopa County Recorder Puts It on the Record
On September 30, 2026, Recorder Justin Heap told the Board the lawsuit was not the beginning. There was a long lead-up. The settlement says the offices will not share election equipment, and he said he will abide by it. He also said that was not his request. From the start he asked to use the county’s existing machines. He said the Board’s IT side demanded a divide, both sides signed, and he will execute what he signed.
Then he put the practical part on the record. Executing the agreement as written puts the burden on the Board’s side, not his. His equipment can come out. What concerns him is the elections staff’s ability to stand up 46 sites in a few hours on emergency-voting morning. Overnight trucks. Equipment pulled. Sites rebuilt before the doors open. If that morning runs late, he does not want it turned around as the Recorder’s staff failing to do X, Y, and Z.
His offer was to modify. Let the Board’s team use his equipment and skip the hectic night. If the Board is comfortable with its plan, he said, that is fine. The statement was concern, not criticism. He wished the Board godspeed.
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Chair Kate Brophy McGee said she would take the comments in good faith. The mediated settlement specified the split. Separate equipment, she said, is the easy and cost-effective path. She did not want litigation reopened and did not think this was a special-master issue. Then she told him his staff was probably cheering, because he had taken a staff-level concern and elevated it to the Board, and she recommended he steer it back to ongoing staff meetings.
Under the July 2026 settlement, the Recorder runs early in-person voting. The Board’s Elections Department runs Election Day, including site setup. The offer to share was spoken in the chamber. The answer was to take it off the agenda.
“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
— 2 Corinthians 3:17
A willingness to share is now part of the record. So is the refusal to hear it as a Board question. Ask, before that morning, which plan the 46 sites are actually running.
On the record. Willing to share.
