PHOENIX (AP) — The top elections official in Arizona’s most populous county will gain more power over elections after a judge sided with his office in a long-running legal battle with the local board that shares responsibility for overseeing voting.
The decision could have wide-ranging consequences in one of the nation’s most prominent battleground states, which is hosting several high-profile races this fall. Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, has been roiled by election conspiracy theorists since President Donald Trump lost the county to Democrat Joe Biden during his 2020 re-election bid.
Maricopa County Republican Recorder Justin Shipp sued the largely Republican county Board of Supervisors last summer, alleging it illegally controlled certain aspects of election administration. Shipp claims the board diverted funding, IT staff and some key functions — including managing ballot drop boxes and setting up early voting sites — away from his office through a deal negotiated with his predecessor, whom he recently defeated in the Republican primary.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney largely sided with Shipp’s office in a ruling filed Thursday but appearing on the public docket Friday. He wrote that the Board of Supervisors acted unlawfully and exceeded its legal authority by “seizing the recordkeeper’s personnel, systems and equipment and refusing to return them.”
Blaney also ruled that the recorder’s office oversees duties such as in-person early voting, while the board is responsible for other operations such as selecting Election Day voting locations, providing polling locations and hiring poll workers.
“The Commission’s assertion of total authority over election administration through its general oversight authority is inconsistent with Arizona law,” the judge wrote.
Board President Kate Brophy McGee said the board would consider an appeal.
“I disagree with other parts of the ruling, and I will explore all options with the Board of Supervisors, including an expeditious appeal,” McGee, a Republican, said in a statement. “From day one, the Board of Supervisors has provided Recorder Heap with the resources and personnel needed to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. We will continue to do so because voters always come first.”
Shipp hailed the ruling in a statement as “a clear and decisive victory for the rule of law and the voters of Maricopa County.”
“The court affirmed that the commission cannot be above state law, use funds as leverage, or control the election duties assigned to the recorder,” Shipp said. “This ruling restores the authority and resources my office needs to do its job.”
Shipp is a former Republican state lawmaker who was elected in 2024 after defeating incumbent Sen. Stephen Reacher in the Republican primary and the Democratic candidate in the general election. In the past, Shipp has not repeated false claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but has said voters don’t trust the state’s voting system and that it’s poorly run.
Since the 2020 presidential election, false fraud claims have led to threats of violence against Richer and others at the Maricopa County Elections Office. Richer accused Shipp of fueling a climate of distrust and vitriol directed at the office.
“He catered to the very ugly things that people in the office had to go through,” Richer said of Shipp in an interview last month. “He created the storm by aligning himself with those who were at the center of it.”
After taking office, Shipp terminated a previous agreement between Reacher and the board that modified how election business was divided between the two offices. Shipp filed the lawsuit with the support of America First Law, a conservative public interest group founded by Stephen Miller, now the White House deputy chief of staff.
