Swing-state MAGA official suffers blistering court loss for move to curtail voting rights

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Raw Story

June 18, 2026 5:35PM ET


Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap, the pro-Trump official in charge of election administration in one of America's largest swing-state counties, got a blistering loss in state court on Thursday, as a panel of appellate judges blocked his sweeping election order against the Board of Supervisors.

Among other things, Heap ordered the board to hand over a trove of election equipment and resources they were withholding from his office, and make a number of changes to the process for approving polling places, including stripping the board of the power to approve new drop box sites without his consent under penalty of felony.

In the order, the judges ruled that the supervisors are likely to prevail against Heap on the merits.

Furthermore, they argued that the "Purcell" principle prohibited the lower court from intervening on Heap's behalf in a way that is likely to substantially change election rules this close to voting.

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/justin-heap/

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Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/AZMARIC/2026/06/18/file_attachments/3688834/OrderGrantingEmergencyMotionForAStayPendingAp%205925445%200.pdf

[niyad]

1. Is Uriah his cousin?

[Old Crank]

2. Perhaps, but

several times removed from this jerk.

[ck4829]

3. K&R

[onenote]

4. Typical Raw Story bluster

Yes, the Arizona Court of Appeals -- in a 2-1 decision -- issued a stay pending appeal of a lower court ruling upholding a series of actions taken by the Maricopa County Recorder, Justin Heap. But it's a bit of an overstatement to say it was a "blistering loss". The decision to grant the stay was based entirely on the "Purcell" principle, which counsels against making changes in election rules and procedures close to the date of an election -- in this instance July 21. Contrary to the Raw Story article, the two judge majority focused only on the merits of the Purcell argument and did not reach the underlying legal merits of the actions proposed by Heap, leaving that to be decided in the appeal of the lower court ruling. Moreover, the Raw Story doesn't mention that it was a 2-1 decision or that Heap almost certainly will take this to the Arizona Supreme Court, which has seven justices, six of whom are Republican appointees. I think it's quite possible that the Arizona Supreme Court reversing the appellate division and reinstating the decision upholding Heap's actions is very strong before the July 21 election. But even if they don't, I think its highly likely that the Court of Appeals, and then the state Supreme Court will uphold Heap's actions as they would apply to the general election in November.