Highlights
- Maricopa County's board approved an expansion from 12 to 16 early voting sites for the July 21 primary.
- Supervisor Steve Gallardo accused Recorder Justin Heap of pushing election conspiracy theories to invite federal takeover.
- A recent Arizona Court of Appeals ruling keeps the board in charge of early voting, though litigation continues.
- Heap previously referred more than 200 names to the county attorney alleging noncitizen voter registrations, a claim that has produced false positives in other states.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved an early voting plan that increases the number of voting sites from 12 to 16 ahead of the state's primary election on July 21, a move voting-access advocates are calling a win in the middle of a prolonged dispute between the board and County Recorder Justin Heap.
Gina Mendez, an organizer with Living United for Change in Arizona, praised the expansion at a gathering near the board's downtown Phoenix offices on July 2. She said the additional sites would extend access to working families, seniors, students, rural voters, voters with disabilities, and Black, brown, and Indigenous communities across the county. Mendez also credited the board with holding ground against Heap, whom progressive groups have criticized for what they view as efforts to undermine confidence in the county's election processes.
Supervisor Steve Gallardo, a Democrat representing District 5 in the southwest part of the county, went further, accusing Heap of deliberately attacking the county's election infrastructure with the goal of petitioning the Trump administration to assume control. "This primary election in three weeks is going to be run safe, secure, accurate and transparent," Gallardo said. "Voters can vote with confidence, when they cast their ballots their ballots are going to be counted."
Heap, a Republican, and the board have been in open conflict since he took office. In June 2025, Heap filed a lawsuit against the board over an agreement made with his predecessor that stripped the recorder's office of much of its control over early voting processing. A recent Arizona Court of Appeals ruling left the board in charge of early voting ahead of the primary, but litigation is ongoing. Separately, surveillance footage caught Heap's staffers removing voting equipment from the county's central tabulation center; Heap maintained the equipment belonged to his office.
In March, Heap referred more than 200 names to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office, alleging they were noncitizens registered to vote. The federal database he used to make those identifications has produced multiple false positives in other states, according to the Arizona Mirror's reporting.
The July 21 primary is three weeks out. The board's approved early voting plan is now in effect.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- azmirror.com retrieved 03/07/2026 00:13
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 03/07/2026 00:13. Every claim traces to a source.
