phoenix — The top election official in Arizona’s most populous county will get more power in running elections after a judge sided with his office in a long legal battle with the local board that shares responsibility for overseeing voting.
The decision could have wide-ranging implications in one of the nation’s most hotly contested states, which will have several high-profile races this fall. Maricopa Countywhich includes Phoenix, has drawn the ire of election conspiracy theories since President Donald Trump The state was lost For Democrat Joe Biden during his re-election bid in 2020.
Justin Hipp, Maricopa County Republican Recorder, File a lawsuit against The Republican-dominated county Board of Supervisors alleged last summer that it illegally controlled certain aspects of election administration. Hipp claimed the board moved funding, IT staff and some key tasks — including managing ballot drop boxes and setting up early voting sites — away from his office through an agreement negotiated with his predecessor, whom he had recently hired. Defeated in the Republican primary.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Scott Blaney mostly sided with Hipp’s office in his ruling, which was filed Thursday but appeared in the public docket Friday. He wrote that the Board of Supervisors “acted unlawfully and exceeded its legal authority by seizing the Registrar’s employees, systems, and equipment and refusing to return them” to the Registrar.
Blaney also ruled that the registrar’s office is responsible for overseeing in-person early voting, among other duties, while the board is responsible for other operations, such as selecting voting sites on Election Day, staffing poll sites and hiring poll workers.
“The Board’s assertion of complete authority over the administration of elections through its general supervisory powers is inconsistent with Arizona law,” the judge wrote.
Board President Kate Brophy-McGee said the board would consider the appeal.
“I disagree with other parts of the ruling, and will explore all options with the Board of Supervisors, including an expedited appeal,” McGee, a Republican, said in a statement. “From day one, the Board of Supervisors has provided Recorder Heap with the resources and staff necessary to fulfill its statutory duties. We will continue to do so because voters always come first.”
In a statement, Hipp praised the ruling as “a clear and decisive victory for the rule of law and for the voters of Maricopa County.”
“The court affirmed that the board cannot override state law, use funding as leverage, or control the election duties assigned to the registrar,” Hipp said. “This ruling restores the authority and resources necessary to my office to do its work.”
It was Hipp, a former Republican state legislator Elected in 2024 After unseating incumbent Stephen Risher in the Republican primary and defeating a Democratic candidate in the general election. In the past, the heap stops iterating False allegations The 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but he said voters don’t trust the state’s voting system and it’s poorly managed.
False claims of fraud Since the 2020 presidential election has led to threats of violence against Richer and others at the Maricopa County Elections Office. Richter blamed the pile Contributing to creating an atmosphere of mistrust And the harsh criticism directed at the office.
“He cared about the really ugly things that people in this office had to live through,” Richer said of Hebb in an interview last month. “He allied himself with the people who were in the eye of the storm in terms of its creation.”
Once in office, Heap terminated a previous agreement reached between Richer and the board that revised how election operations were divided between the two offices. Hipp filed his lawsuit with support from America First Legal, a conservative public interest group founded by Stephen Miller, who is now deputy chief of staff in the White House.