The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors has rejected a proposal from County Recorder Justin Heap to automatically mail ballots to voters who had not requested them. The decision was made during a meeting to adopt the Election Plan for the upcoming Congressional District 7 special election.
While most of the election plan was approved, the board specifically excluded the measure that would have sent ballots to individuals not on the Active Early Voting List (AEVL). Chairman Thomas Galvin, District 2, stated, “County recorders should only mail a ballot to early voters who have signed up for AEVL or those who have made a one-time request for an early ballot. Mailing ballots to voters who did not request them is problematic and opens up a can of worms that the Board could not support.”
Vice Chair Kate Brophy McGee, District 3, added, “While the goal is to offer convenience for certain voters, we can’t have a County Recorder who picks and chooses who gets early ballots and who doesn’t. Allowing it even one time would set a terrible precedent.”
Board members said they intend to focus on outreach efforts so that residents are informed about voting options in the CD-7 election. The approved plan provides both early and election day voting options. Only those on AEVL or those making a one-time request will receive an early ballot by mail.
Residents can access election information and personalized voter dashboards at maricopa.vote.
In other areas of county performance, recent education data shows challenges for students in Maricopa County. For example, 62.9% of students in grades 3 through 8 did not pass the mathematics section of the 2022-23 AASA assessment according to state data (https://www.azed.gov/). Similarly, 65% of high school students failed the mathematics section of the ACT in that same year (https://www.azed.gov/). In English assessments, 57.2% of students in grades 3 through 8 failed the English section of AASA (https://www.azed.gov/), while 57% of high schoolers did not pass English on the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/). However, more recent figures indicate some improvement: In the 2023-24 school year, 33.9% of high schoolers passed mathematics on the ACT (https://www.azed.gov/) and 36% of students in grades three through eight passed mathematics on AASA (https://www.azed.gov/).
