Overview
- The Arizona Supreme Court dissolved the Court of Appeals' stay and on Tuesday reinstated Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney’s injunction that favored Recorder Justin Heap.
- The court adopted a 12-point interim operational plan that keeps current voting locations, drop boxes, poll worker assignments and tabulation equipment in place while giving Heap access to the shared election databases his office needs.
- The dispute began after an October 2024 shared services agreement shifted the recorder’s IT and some election functions to the Board of Supervisors, Heap terminated that deal after taking office in January 2025 and sued the board in June 2025.
- Heap praised the ruling and said his office is ready to implement the order, while the Board of Supervisors said it was disappointed but will follow the law; the decision followed court-ordered mediation in which the parties reported a tentative settlement before the high court's order.
- The ruling clarifies how county election duties are allocated under state law, rejects using the Purcell timing principle to deny statutory rights, and could prompt near-term changes in who controls staff, systems, funding and outside counsel for election operations that serve about 2.6 million voters.