Maricopa County will restore citizens’ voting registrations, Arizona AG says

By Jim Saksa

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A voter casts their ballot at a secure ballot drop box at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Maricopa County will restore 25 voters’ registrations after they were falsely flagged as noncitizens, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) announced.

Mayes sued Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap (R) Thursday, demanding that he add the voters back to the registration rolls. 

“After successful mediation efforts, Recorder Heap will reinstate the voting status of citizens at issue in this case,” Mayes wrote on X Friday evening. “It should not have taken litigation to make Justin Heap follow the law — that is his duty and the duty of all election officials.”

The lawsuit came eight months after Heap ran more than 60,000 voters through a federal immigration database the Trump administration has converted into a faulty elections tool.

Mayes and Heap have battled since then over whether he had the authority to pause voters’ registration. Arizona law requires county recorders to maintain a voter’s registration unless they have “affirmative evidence” of ineligibility.