The legal battle over who controls Maricopa County elections

The primary season is quickly approaching and the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and Recorder Justin Heap appear no closer to resolving a legal battle over who controls the county’s elections.

Just last week, the board voted to give Heap control of early in-person voting, one of the recorder’s demands that led him to file suit against the board last summer. That includes administering locations where Maricopa County voters can cast their ballots in the weeks before Election Day.

Chair Kate Brophy McGee and Vice Chair Debbie Lesko offered to coordinate early in-person voting with the recorder for the upcoming primary election.

However, Recorder Heap says he has “serious concerns” about the plans the board sent over, according to a letter released by his office. Heap said those plans included too many locations in places like Tempe and the West Valley and too few locations in Mesa and other regions alike. A statement released by the Recorder’s Office included a map of potential early voting sites that illustrated this disparity.

Kate Brophy McGee, the Chair for the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss these legal battles and what they mean for upcoming elections.