Maricopa Shut Two Vote Centers the Day Before Election Day, Then Changed Its Reason

Maricopa County's elections office closed two vote centers in north Phoenix on Monday morning, the day before Election Day, and changed its explanation within minutes.

At 8:57 a.m., Maricopa County Elections posted on X that the vote centers at Paradise Community College and Sunset Canyon School were "temporarily closed" because of "storm related issues." At 9:06 a.m. it edited the post to say "power related issues." The notice graphic attached to both versions, in English and Spanish, is stamped 8:50 a.m. The county had said 151 vote centers would open at 9 a.m. Monday.

The county pointed voters to Locations.Maricopa.Vote to find another site. Maricopa runs vote centers, so a registered voter can cast a ballot at any open one. Paradise Valley Community College, the campus the county's notice calls Paradise Community College, posted on its website that it was closed "due to a power outage" and that classes would resume at noon.

As of late Monday morning, the county had not posted that either vote center had reopened.

A handoff the Recorder warned about

The closures came three days after the county's two election offices traded control. Recorder Justin Heap's office ran in-person early voting through 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30. From then on, the Recorder's office said, the Board of Supervisors' Elections Department has "oversight of all Emergency Voting and Election Day operations, including Vote Centers, secure ballot drop boxes, polling place staff, on-site ID Verify tabulation, and all voting equipment."

Heap's office objected to how that handoff was planned. It said it had proposed "a more efficient approach" that would have pulled its equipment before emergency voting began. "We disagree with the BOS's Election Department approach in proceeding with their own transition and routing schedule," the office posted Friday evening, warning that its equipment "may be removed from Vote Centers during active voting hours."

The Elections Department said Saturday the transition was complete and "no voting locations were impacted." "Despite severe weather conditions, the transition plan was carried out successfully," Deputy Elections Director Jennifer Liewer said in the county's update.

How the Recorder handled it

Power had already failed at two Maricopa vote centers this election, both while Heap's office was in charge. When the ASU West vote center in Glendale lost power Oct. 22, the office was told power would not return the next day either. It came back at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 23, and within 30 minutes one of Heap's new R3 Rapid Response Teams had the site open, the office said. Three R3 teams were stationed around the county, "ready to deploy at a moment's notice."

On Oct. 30, the Mesa Community College Red Mountain vote center lost power, and the office first said it would stay closed the rest of the day. It announced the site had reopened 55 minutes later, open until its regular 7 p.m. close.

Right on schedule

Monday's closures land on a county with a long record of trouble at the polls.

Tuesday, 254 vote centers are set to open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the county. Voters should check Locations.Maricopa.Vote for open sites and wait times before they leave home.