Statement on SSA & Negotiations with Recorder

Maricopa County, Arizona sent this bulletin at 02/24/2025 04:18 PM MST

Statement on SSA & Negotiations with Recorder

“Conversations between the Board and its staff, and the Recorder and his staff, have been happening for weeks. Despite the factual errors in Recorder Heap's statement, I don't view this as a 'battle.'

Shared service agreements in Maricopa County are frequently renegotiated, each time in consultation with our attorneys to ensure compliance with state law.

My colleagues and I happily look forward to further and continued dialogue to ensure a new SSA aligns with Arizona law and best practices in election administration."

BACKGROUND

Election Responsibilities in Maricopa County as of October 2024

Maricopa County Recorder:

Maintaining the voter registration database

Preparing ballots/envelopes for voters

Mailing early ballots to voters

Receiving early ballots that are sent by the U.S. Postal Service

Managing the in-bound scanning of envelopes

Overseeing signature verification and curing of questionable signatures

Sending and receiving UOCAVA ballots

Administering Special Election Boards

Researching and curing all provisional ballots

Board of Supervisors' Elections Department:

Managing candidate services and ballot-building

Coordinating in-person voting for early, emergency, and Election Day voting

Picking up ballots from early voting sites and drop boxes and providing to Recorder for in-bound scanning of envelopes

Hiring and training election workers at tabulation center and poll workers to support in-person voting

Approving and managing operations of vote centers for early, emergency, and Election Day voting

Processing ballots (removal of ballot from affidavit envelope)

Tabulating all ballots (provisional, early, Election Day)

Canvassing of election results

Conducting recounts as ordered by statute

View Oct. 2024 SSA >

Updates to the 2023 Shared Services Agreement (SSA) that resulted in the 2024 SSA

Ballot processing (the process of removing the ballot from the envelope) became the responsibility of the Board of Supervisors.

Public Records Requests are now fulfilled based on the appropriate Custodian of Records. Election documents are managed by a Custodian of Records for the Elections Department and Recorder files and records are managed and released by the Custodian of Records for the Recorder’s Office.

View May 2023 SSA >

Election and Recorder Technology Reporting Structure

The County employees who provided IT support for the Recorder and Board of Supervisors' Elections Department were integrated into the county-wide IT structure to create efficiencies and provide wider expertise to better serve both entities.

The Recorder continues to have full access and oversight of the voter registration system and is responsible for every aspect of voter registration and list maintenance.

The Recorder continues to have direct supervision over three employees related to voter registration, the Voter Registration Technology Manager and two Voter Registration IT Specialists. This is in addition to the support of the 30 IT professionals who were previously considered staff within the Recorder’s Office.

Maric opa County | 301 W Jefferson St | Phoenix, AZ 85003

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