Recorder’s Office Mailer Error Raises New Questions About Leadership and Oversight

The latest controversy surrounding the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office did not begin with a partisan dispute or a courtroom filing. It began with a mass mailing that never should have gone out, and with a county recorder who was not physically present when the fallout hit.

According to reporting by Phoenix New Times, the Recorder’s Office sent erroneous letters to roughly 83,000 voters in late June, incorrectly warning them that their registrations were in jeopardy because they had supposedly moved out of state. The mailers were wrong. The voters had not moved, and the message did not reflect the actual issue the office was attempting to address.

The letters triggered confusion and alarm across the county. Voters flooded the Recorder’s Office with calls and emails, worried they were about to lose their ability to vote. For an office already operating under intense scrutiny, the mistake was not minor. It was a large scale administrative failure with real public consequences.

What elevated the story from bureaucratic error to leadership question was what happened next. Public records obtained by Phoenix New Times show that Recorder Justin Heap did not badge into the Recorder’s Office on June 26, the day the mistake became publicly known and the office was dealing with the immediate aftermath. Badge logs show Heap was present the day before and the day after, but not on the day when voters and staff were scrambling for answers.

Heap’s official calendar for that day reportedly showed only a virtual meeting. There was no indication he was on approved leave or officially out of the office. When asked about his whereabouts, the Recorder’s Office initially declined to provide a clear explanation.

The office first attempted to deflect responsibility by blaming a third party printing vendor. That explanation did not hold for long. Subsequent reporting and internal communications showed that an employee within the Recorder’s Office had approved the incorrect proof before it was sent to print. In other words, the error passed through internal review and sign off.

The office later acknowledged the mistake and sent corrected letters, but by then the damage was done. Tens of thousands of voters had already received an official notice falsely suggesting their registration status was in danger.

This episode fits into a broader pattern of turbulence at the Recorder’s Office since Heap took office. His tenure has included public disputes with the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors over election administration authority, as well as criticism over unusually high ballot signature rejection rates in recent elections. Supporters argue Heap is attempting to reform a system they believe was poorly managed. Critics argue the office has become less stable and less professional under his leadership.

Former recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican who lost reelection to Heap, was quoted in the Phoenix New Times article expressing disbelief that a recorder would not be present during a crisis of this magnitude. While Richer is now a political opponent, his point reflects a basic expectation of executive accountability. When an office sends incorrect legal notices to tens of thousands of voters, the elected official in charge is expected to be visible and engaged.

The badge records also raise a secondary issue. According to the reporting, Heap was physically present in the office only about 57 percent of business days during the reviewed period, with some absences lacking clear explanations. That alone does not prove misconduct, but it adds context to concerns about management oversight.

None of this proves malicious intent. It does, however, document a breakdown in process, supervision, and crisis response. Election administration depends heavily on public trust, and that trust is not built through press releases issued after the fact or by shifting blame to vendors.

The unanswered questions are straightforward: Who approved the language in the mailer? What safeguards failed? Why was the recorder not present when the error surfaced? And what changes have been made to ensure this does not happen again?

Until those questions are fully and transparently answered, the mailer incident will remain less about a printing mistake and more about whether the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is being competently led at a time when precision and accountability matter most.