Maricopa County Recorder Partly Admits Staff Error in 83,000 Voter Letters

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap initially blamed a third-party vendor for mistakenly mailing incorrect correspondence to 83,000 voters, but later admitted that an employee in his office approved the erroneous mailers after the vendor swapped the content of proofs. The letters, intended to request Documentary Proof of Citizenship due to a prior Motor Vehicle Division issue, caused confusion by instructing voters to respond to the Recorder’s Office or risk being marked inactive. Heap acknowledged a communication breakdown within his office and is accepting responsibility while emphasizing that the vendor is covering the cost of mailing corrected letters. Nearly all corrected correspondence has been sent, with affected voters given 90 days to respond, and no voter records were compromised. Despite the internal approval error, no personnel changes have been announced, though critics have called for greater transparency and accountability. The incident highlights the importance of oversight in election-related communications to maintain public trust.