In Maricopa County, election-denier official stirs chaos ahead of July primary

A lawyer from America First Legal (AFL), founded by Trump advisor Stephen Miller, is accusing Maricopa County, Arizona election officials of committing “serious felonies” for passing a resolution on voting locations for an upcoming primary election.

On May 20, AFL attorney James Rogers sent a threatening letter on behalf of the county’s Recorder Justin Heap – a notorious election denier – to the county’s Board of Supervisors ahead of a vote regarding the placement of early voting centers and ballot drop boxes. 

The letter claims that only Heap can legally make decisions about early voting locations, and that board officials and poll workers could be criminally prosecuted for any attempts to manage early voting procedures. 

The threat is just the latest in a long simmering feud about election administration duties between county officials, some of whom, like Heap, falsely claim that the county’s 2020 election results were rigged against Trump and now want to implement voter suppression policies. 

“These are serious felonies,” reads Rogers’ letter. “The Board should not proceed with a resolution that exposes its members and employees to criminal prosecution simply because it wishes to assert control over a function that the Legislature has assigned to the Recorder.”

The five-member board, four of whom are Republican, approved the resolution anyway, which establishes 237 voting centers across the county and 12 supervised drop boxes for early voting. 

Board Supervisor Steve Gallardo, the lone Democrat, said on X that Heap “is threatening to criminalize election volunteers” and “is doing everything he can to ensure the 2026 election fails.”

Recorder Heap is threatening to criminalize election volunteers. Today, Heap sent his latest attempt to undermine election laws and threaten election workers. Heap is doing everything he can to ensure the 2026 election fails. pic.twitter.com/F5VnZWINQU

— Supervisor Steve Gallardo (@Steve_Gallardo) May 20, 2026

Even some of the Republican board members have publicly complained that Heap’s actions are impacting their ability to run “smooth, fair, and safe elections” – as board supervisor Debbie Lesko put it in her invitation for Heap to meet with them.

 “We cannot proceed through the remainder of an important election year with the status quo,” reads a letter from Lesko and board chair Kate Brophy McGee. “The current level of confusion and conflict is not sustainable and does not serve the interests of County staff, election workers, or the public.”

Heap declined the invitation, calling it political theater.

Brophy McGee told azcentral.com that she believed AFL lawyer Rogers seemed to be running the recorder’s office instead of Heap. 

AFL is behind a recent lawsuit in Arizona that sought to overhaul how several counties, including Maricopa, use ballot drop boxes, fix and verify mail-in ballot signatures, and maintain voter rolls. Arizona courts have dismissed this lawsuit. 

AFL’s intervention in county election work is rooted in the ongoing conspiracy belief that voter fraud in Maricopa County led to Trump’s 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden. 

“We are stuck in this hamster wheel of the 2020 election,” Republican Maricopa County Board Supervisor Thomas Galvin told azcentral.com. “Someone has to call out the recorder and say, ‘Cut it out.’”