A judge sides with Arizona’s elections official in a ruling that could affect voting in the midterm elections

PHOENIX (AP) — 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 County, which includes Phoenix, has drawn the wrath of election conspiracy theorists since President Donald Trump lost the state to Democrat Joe Biden during his 2020 re-election bid.

Read more: The Trump administration expands its investigation into the 2020 election as it obtains records from Arizona

Justin Heap, Maricopa County’s Republican registrar, sued the Republican-dominated county Board of Supervisors last summer alleging it illegally controlled certain aspects of election administration. Hipp claimed the board moved finance, IT staff and some key functions — including managing ballot drop boxes and setting up early voting sites — away from his office through an agreement negotiated with his predecessor, whom he recently 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.”

Hipp, a former Republican state legislator, was elected in 2024 after unseating incumbent Stephen Risher in the Republican primary and defeating a Democratic candidate in the general election. In the past, Heap has stopped short of repeating false claims that the 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen, but has said voters do not trust the state’s voting system and that it is poorly managed.

False claims of fraud since the 2020 presidential election have led to threats of violence against Richer and others at the Maricopa County Elections Office. Richer blamed Heap for contributing to an atmosphere of mistrust and vitriol directed toward the office.

“He cared about the really ugly things that people in this office had to live through,” Richter 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.