Maricopa BOS’s Stewart Applaud’s Heap’s New Voter Signature Process

Maricopa County officials are offering sharply different assessments of Recorder Justin Heap’s new signature-verification process, which was used for the November 4, 2025, jurisdictional election. During last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Mark Stewart publicly praised Heap and the elections department for implementing the new system quickly.

“It’s remarkable the work that you’ve done, as it relates to executing what I would say is a solid signature-verification process,” Stewart said. “More importantly, following state statute for the curing and making sure that anybody that was not included, numerous times.”

He added, “Thank you for the diligence and teamwork, working with the elections department. We will get there in the future,” and encouraged cooperation on future SSA matters, “without going to court.”

Stewart also issued a written summary online, stating, “Last week, my colleagues and I reviewed the Nov. 4th Jurisdictional Election during our public Board meeting. County staff presented findings and recommendations to strengthen our processes and procedures. Recorder @azjustinheap outlines his new signature verification process, which now includes a bipartisan team to review any flagged signatures.

The Board diligently asked questions to ensure every eligible vote is counted and that voters who sign in error are promptly contacted for curing.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a signature doesn’t match, the Recorder’s office contacts the voter in question by text, phone call, email, and mail to review the variance. Once confirmed, the ballot is counted.”

Maricopa County 11/4 Election Update

Last week, my colleagues and I reviewed the Nov. 4th Jurisdictional Election during our public Board meeting. County staff presented findings and recommendations to strengthen our processes and procedures.

Recorder @azjustinheap outlines… pic.twitter.com/e806VaYoWe

— Mark Stewart Maricopa County Supervisor District 1 (@MarkStewart_AZ) November 24, 2025

While Stewart expressed support, Board Chairman Thomas Galvin raised concerns about the impact of Heap’s policy, stating, “At today’s Canvas, I expressed my deep concern that too many valid ballots were rejected by Justin Heap’s office because of the new signature-verification policy,” Galvin said. Galvin continued to lambast Heap on social media, followed by the usual mainstream media pundits who echo the Chairman.

Heap responded on social media, pushing back on Galvin’s remarks:

“Instead of holding his own staff accountable for misplacing thousands of Election Day ballots and illegally seizing control of the Recorder’s statutory responsibilities, Chairman Galvin chose to attack the only part of the process that worked flawlessly.

Sorry, Chairman, my staff refuses to commit felonies just because you prefer we wave through signatures that can’t be verified.

And as a matter of record, MCRO’s new signature-verification system increased security, added complete bipartisan oversight, and finished the job in a fraction of the time of past Recorders.”

Maricopa County officials are expected to revisit the issue as planning for the 2026 election cycle begins.