Votebeat: Maricopa County recorder turns over texts sought by Votebeat about his fight for election authority

Jen Fifield wrote about Votebeat’s reporting that uncovered efforts by the Maricopa County Recorder to increase his direct control over county elections.

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap has released text messages that he exchanged with county supervisors on his personal phone that show how he privately pressured them for more control over elections.

Heap provided the messages to Votebeat on Sept. 12 in response to an April public records request, after his office initially said that he didn’t discuss county business on his personal phone, and then said the texts he exchanged were unrecoverable.

The dozens of texts he released confirm previous reporting about how he privately pressured supervisors to support him as he tried to negotiate for greater control over the county’s elections.

Read more at Voteboat.