Table of Contents
Letter from the Recorder ............................................................................................................................. 3
Recording Services Department .................................................................................................................. 5
Voter Registration Department ................................................................................................................... 6
Information Technology (IT) Department ................................................................................................... 8
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) ..................................................................................................... 9
Elections Department................................................................................................................................. 10
2022 Elections ......................................................................................................................................... 10
2021 Elections ......................................................................................................................................... 11
Just the Facts........................................................................................................................................... 13
Correcting the Record ............................................................................................................................. 13
Premium Poll Worker Training................................................................................................................ 14
Informed Delivery ................................................................................................................................... 15
Awards and Recognition ......................................................................................................................... 15
Be Ballot Ready – Tenga Boleta Lista ...................................................................................................... 16
External Affairs Department ...................................................................................................................... 17
Constituent Relations Team .................................................................................................................... 17
Constituent Correspondence .............................................................................................................. 17
Public Records Requests ..................................................................................................................... 17
Deputy Registrar Program .................................................................................................................. 18
Legislative Affairs .................................................................................................................................... 19
Contact Us................................................................................................................................................... 19
Appendix A – Recording Services Statistics................................................................................ Appendix A1
Appendix B – Voter Registration Figures ....................................................................................Appendix B1

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Letter from the Recorder
Dear Maricopa County:
I couldn’t have possibly predicted my first year in office—a global pandemic, Cyber Ninjas,
international media attention, over 350 public records requests, death threats, wild allegations,
being named “Best Republican Politician of 2021” by Phoenix New Times and being named an
“Arizonan of the Year” by The Arizona Republic.
Despite our frequent encounters with the unpredictable and bizarre, 2021 was an absolute
pleasure and a remarkable success. Never has the work of recording public documents,
registering voters, maintaining the voter registration database, and administering elections been
so meaningful, and I’m very proud that this team has performed at a commensurately high level.
Our successes in 2021 include:
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Navigating a hopefully-once-in-a-lifetime pandemic while keeping our Office open
and protecting the health of our employees
Recording over 1.3 million public documents
Processing over 140,000 new voter registrations
Administering three smooth and successful elections, including one for 1.4 million
eligible voters
Implementing the decennial redistricting
Processing a never-before-imagined number of public records requests while
simultaneously reducing our average response time to under seven days
Launching a new premium poll worker training program
Publicly providing new statistics on recordings, voter registrations, party affiliation
changes, and other facets of the Office
Partnering with the United States Postal Service to add “Informed Delivery” to our
elections
Beginning the redesign of our voter registration database
Beginning the redesign of our website
Hosting tours of our election facility
Expanding ballot-tracking and vote-history services on BeBallotReady.Vote
Providing additional election administration information at JustTheFacts.Vote
Processing multiple ballot initiatives and referendums
Responding to thousands and thousands of constituent phone calls and emails
Expanding our volunteer deputy registrar program and offering additional
informational classes
Winning multiple federal grants to upgrade our cybersecurity capabilities
Redesigning and fabricating our recording kiosks 2.0
Procuring and implementing a new inventory tracking system
Renewing a contract with a major vendor at a reduced cost to Maricopa County

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•
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Partnering with my excellent elected teammates Assessor Eddie Cook and Treasurer
John Allen to improve the county’s call center
Investing thousands of hours into researching questions raised by the Arizona State
Senate’s contractor “Cyber Ninjas” and producing a 93-page analysis
Addressing concerns and questions raised by Arizona Republicans in a 38-page open
letter
Enlisting four outside companies to assess various existing equipment and practices
Enhancing both internal and external security
Presenting at scores of panels, conferences, hearings, and other events on recording,
voter registration, and election administration
Collaborating with the recognized political parties (Democratic, Libertarian,
Republican) to determine the eligibility of prospective precinct committeemen
Overseeing, and assisting with, the campaign filings for 2022 county candidates
(school boards, justices of the peace, constables, clerk of the superior court,
community college board members, healthcare districts, and water conservation
boards)
Producing regular reports chronicling the Office’s activities and efforts

I’m hopeful that 2022 has fewer curveballs. But even if they come, I’m confident this team can
handle them, and I’m confident we’ll continue to improve this Office.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve Maricopa County.
Stephen

Stephen
Maricopa County Recorder

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Recording Services Department
The County Recorder is responsible for recording and maintaining public records for Maricopa
County and has maintained this permanent public record since 1871. Most recorded documents
are real estate related, such as deeds and plat maps. Recently, the Office expanded its services
to record military discharge papers free of charge, so that our veterans may have a greater ease
of access to these important documents.
As a leader in recording technology innovation, the Office was well equipped to support
customers by mail and electronic recording throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless,
we eagerly reopened our front counter recording services in 2021 at our downtown Phoenix
location, and the team welcomes many customers every day to our lobby.
Between October 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021, the Office recorded 326,410 documents – an
11.49 percent decrease from the fourth quarter of 2020 with 368,772 documents
recorded. 1 Most documents are now recorded digitally – 93 percent through the fourth quarter
of this year.
In total for January 1 – December 31, 2021, the Office recorded 1,386,810 documents into the
public record. The Office recorded its one-millionth document for the year on September 16,
2021. All documents (except for plats and surveys) are recorded for a flat fee of $30, regardless
of document length. For more recording statistics, see Appendix A.
In addition to entering documents into the public record, the Office indexes documents to be
searchable on the Recorder’s Office website. There are currently over 52 million searchable
documents dating back to 1871. The team indexes on average 5,000 documents a day, with an
approximately 72-hour turnaround time for those documents to then be searchable by name on
the Recorder’s Office website.

Customer Kiosks
In 2021, the Office designed,
redeveloped, and started
production of the Recording
Customer Kiosks 2.0. The Kiosks
are physical terminals placed
throughout Maricopa County
allowing customers to connect live
to a Recorder’s Office agent who
will assist them through the
recording process. Pictured here is
a sneak peek at the new home screen design.
For more statistics on recording, please see Appendix A.
1

Statistics do not include same day voided documents, de minimis of the total recorded documents

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Voter Registration Department
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office is
responsible for voter registration and the
maintenance of the county’s voter rolls.
Maricopa County has approximately 2.6
million active registered voters. This yearround work includes modifications to existing
records, cancelations, and corrections, in
addition to processing new voter registration
applications. It is our mission to maintain the
integrity of the voter rolls in accordance with
federal and state laws while serving the needs
of new and existing registered voters.
The Voter Registration Department remains busy as large numbers of voters continue to move
to Maricopa County and new housing developments are mapped into districts. Between October
1 and December 31, we received 31,367 new voter registration applications.
For the entirety of 2021 (January 1 – December 31), the Voter Registration Department
processed over 140,000 new voter registration applications.
Voters regularly make updates or changes to their voter registration records such as partisan
affiliation, addresses, and active early voting list (AEVL) status. For example, between October 1
and December 31, we received 16,799 political party registration changes.
For the entirety of 2021 (January 1 – December 31), the Voter Registration Department
processed almost 85,000 political party changes to voter registration files.
In 2021, the Voter Registration Department began receiving monthly Electronic Registration
Information Center (ERIC) Deceased Reports as an additional tool to keep our voter rolls up to
date.
The Voter Registration Department reviewed and processed multiple referendums and initiatives
at both the state and municipal levels. In addition to processing two small initiatives for the
Town of Carefree, the team reviewed petition sheets for two referendums:
 Referendum R-06-2021 sought to challenge Senate Bill 1783, a bill from this past
legislative session that created a new classification of income (“small business income”)
and established new income tax brackets and rates for trusts and estates. The
referendum required 118,823 signatures from valid voters. The referendum’s committee
(“Invest in Arizona”) submitted 123,531 signatures to the Secretary of State. As required
by law, the Secretary of State sent sample files to each county for validity checks. The
Voter Registration Department reviewed 2,985 signatures and found 2,533 to be from

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qualified electors and deemed 452 signatures invalid. Based on this report, and the
reports of other counties, the Secretary of State found that Invest in Arizona did not
submit a sufficient number of valid signatures to challenge Senate Bill 1783.
 Referendum R-03-2021 seeks to challenge parts of Senate Bill 1828 that created “new
income tax brackets and rates that apply when state general fund revenue exceeds
certain amounts.” The committee (also “Invest in Arizona”) submitted approximately
double the number of valid signatures required (118,823). The Voter Registration
Department reviewed 6,224 signatures and found 4,702 to be valid and 1,522 signatures
invalid. The Secretary of State’s Office has stated the referendum qualified for the 2022
ballot as Prop 307, pending a current court challenge.

Voter Database Redesign

The Office launched the redesign of the county’s voter registration database. The database is a
homegrown system that effectively interacts with other components of the Office’s voting
system, but it has not been refreshed in many years. This redesign will take advantage of new
technologies to improve accuracy and efficiency.

New Voter ID Cards

Congressional and legislative boundaries were updated as a result of the decennial U.S. Census
and the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission process. The Commission certified new
district maps in late January and sent those maps to the Arizona Secretary of State, who then
disseminated the maps to counties to update their systems. Maricopa County made
reconfigurations to fit the over 800 voting precincts into the new congressional and legislative
districts. As a result of these district boundary changes, the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office
will mail out updated voter registration cards to all active registered voters in early March 2022
which will reflect the new districts.
See the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) section for more information on redistricting.
For more voter registration statistics, see Appendix B.

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Information Technology (IT) Department
The Information Technology (IT) Department provides technology solutions for both the
Maricopa County Recorder’s Office and Elections Department. Notable highlights of the IT
department include:
 Beginning the process of better storing and organizing the Office’s 52 million recorded
documents dating back to 1871. The storage of recorded documents has evolved from
handwritten ledgers to microfilm, to M-Discs, to, now, a combination of online/cloudbased storage and physical back-ups.
 Updates to Maricopa County’s SiteBook system. The SiteBook allows voters at physical
voting locations to check-in through a closed, secure, real-time connection to the voter
registration database. Once the SiteBook confirms that the voter is registered and has
not already voted, the SiteBook prints the correct ballot style specific to that person, no
matter which voting location in the county the voter uses. The Office developed the
SiteBook in-house and has received national recognition from the National Association
of Counties.
 Transitioning all technology servers and infrastructure to a new redundant datacenter
model to provide more consistent quality of service
 Began the redesign and recording of the Office's voter registration database
 Began the redesign and recording of the Office’s website
 Improvements to the Recorder’s Office and Elections Department webpages to include:
o
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Faster searching and access to recorded documents online via a new search
application and digital document storage architecture
Installation of new streaming cameras that provide the public 24/7 video access
to the Elections Department facility with higher resolution than previously

Did you know?
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office Recording Services and Information
Technology divisions received a 2021 National Association of Counties
(NACo) Achievement Award for the development of an innovative process
that allows all documents to be searchable by name on the Recorder’s
Office website within 72 hours of recording, drastically reducing the
previous turnaround time of several weeks and increasing customer data
security by moving the process in-house. The Name Indexing Process
received the award in the Information Technology Category for making recorded
document data entry more efficient, cost-effective, and customer friendly. The
developer who helped create and maintain this program was also recognized with
an International Association of Government Officials (iGO) Innovator Award in 2021!

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
A geographic information system (GIS) is a collection of spatial
information that maps people, places, and things. The Maricopa
County Recorder’s Office and Elections Department uses GIS
for voter registration and election planning.
When a voter registers or changes his registration, the Office
searches the voter’s address within the department’s spatial
address database. Once the address is found, the Office uses
spatial intersection functions to find voter’s districts. For
example, in the image to the right, the voter residing at the red
pin south of Camelback Road is assigned to the Kaibab Precinct
and City of Phoenix in the voter record.
The Office’s GIS team answers questions such as: what ballot
styles should be created for an upcoming election, where should
voting locations be placed, what is the fastest way to route
election deliveries, how many voters are within a newly proposed jurisdiction, and how should
districts be redrawn after Census results are delivered.
2021 was a big year for the GIS team. The team adds a significant number of new addresses and
annexations every day – the 2020 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 291 people moved to
Maricopa County every day, making it the fastest growing county in the United States. 2
Additionally, following the 2020 Census, the GIS team worked heavily on the redistricting and
reprecincting process. While the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) is
responsible for redrawing Congressional and Legislative district lines, Maricopa County is
responsible for updating voting precincts, justice court precincts, and the Board of Supervisor
district boundaries. When the Board of Supervisor district boundaries are updated, the
Community College and Special Health Care Districts will be aligned with those boundaries.
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved the voting precinct and justice court
precinct lines at the end of September 2021 after five public hearings. All the changes, full maps,
methodology, and recordings of the public meetings can be found at:
Reprecincting.Maricopa.Vote
Did you know?
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office GIS team received a 2021 National
Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award for a series of Dot Density
Maps based on previous voter activity so that the Elections Department could
determine the best locations for 2020 voting location. The project received the
award in the Information Technology category as an example of utilizing creative
technology to inform data-driven decisions for the election model, and keeping
county staff and voters safe during the height of COVID-19.
2

Eric Jay Toll, “Maricopa County No. 1, Metro Phoenix No. 2 for fastest growth,” AZ Big Media, 18 June, 2021

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Elections Department
The Maricopa County Elections Department is jointly administered by the County Board of
Supervisors and Recorder’s Office through two election directors authorized to carry out the
operations and statutory responsibilities of the respective entities. The partnership is governed
by federal and state law, as well as the Elections Operations Agreement executed in July 2021.

2022 Elections
The Elections Department is in full swing preparing for four elections in 2022. For all election
dates and deadlines, visit Calendar.Maricopa.Vote. Voters can visit BeBallotReady.Vote to verify
their registration information.
The last day to vote in the 2022 elections are as follows:
 March 8: City of Tempe Jurisdictional Election
The City of Tempe is holding a city council candidate election to fill three council seats. As a
ballot-by-mail election, all eligible voters are mailed a ballot on February 9. Voters may mail
back their ballot in its sealed and signed affidavit envelope, drop it off, or vote in person.
 May 17: City of Litchfield Park Jurisdictional Election
The City of Litchfield Park is holding a land sale election in May of 2022. If a runoff is needed
in the March Tempe City Council race, it will also be held in May. Both are designated ballotby-mail elections.
 August 2: Statewide Primary Election
Arizona’s statewide primary election occurs every two years, always in an even year. This
election includes federal, state, county, and local offices. As a primary election serves to
narrow down each recognized political party's candidates, there are ballots for Republican,
Democratic, and Libertarian voters. Voters registered as an independent or no party
preference must select a Republican or Democrat ballot to participate in the election. Some
areas may have a non-partisan ballot option.
 November 8: Statewide General Election
Arizona’s statewide general election occurs every two years, always in an even year. This
election includes federal, state, county, and local offices. The general election is the final
election held between nominees of various parties, as well as non-partisan races, ballot
propositions and initiatives.
Are you a facility owner?
The Elections Department is looking for voting locations throughout Maricopa County for the
2022 Primary and General Elections. If you have a site that is at least 1600 square feet, with
access to electricity, air conditioning, restrooms, and is ADA compliant, please contact
pollplace@risc.maricopa.gov to help voters vote in these upcoming elections.

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Are you a candidate or political action committee in Maricopa County?
The team has been busy preparing for candidate and campaign finance filings, including a
freshly designed dedicated webpage and portal for candidates and committees. Please visit the
Candidates, Committees & Campaign Finance page if you are looking to run for office or start a
Political Action Committee (PAC) in Maricopa County, or need to file campaign finance reports
for your candidate or political committee.
Are you ready to get involved as a poll worker?
The Elections Department provides poll workers with both election specific and premium
training to ensure critical election workers have an in-depth understanding of the laws,
processes, equipment, and resources necessary to best support voters at the polls. Poll workers
are needed for the 2022 Primary and General Elections. Visit GetInvolved.Maricopa.Vote to join
the team!

2021 Elections
The Maricopa County Elections Department
administered three elections in 2021, including an
election of 1.4 million eligible voters in November
2021. As permitted by state law for 30 years and as
selected by the jurisdictions, these elections were
conducted all-mail, meaning all eligible voters received
a ballot in the mail even if not on the Active Early
Voting List (AEVL). In accordance with state law, a
ballot replacement center is always available within the
voting jurisdiction boundaries for voters to visit should
they choose to vote in person. The three 2021
elections took place on:
March 9, 2021 – Goodyear Jurisdictional Election:
9,720 ballots cast out of 57,326 eligible voters at
16.96% turnout.
May 18, 2021 – Cave Creek Jurisdictional Election:
1,595 ballots cast out of 4,385 eligible voters at 36.37%
turnout.

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November 2, 2021 – Jurisdictional Elections for 21 School Districts and 4 Cities/Towns:
308,268 ballots cast out of 1,410,174
eligible voters at 21.86% turnout.
This turnout was slightly below
average for odd-year jurisdictional
elections (28% in Nov. 2019, 23.5%
in Nov. 2017 and 23.8% in Nov.
2015).
Included below are additional
statistics from the November 2021
Jurisdictional Elections:
 25 ballot replacement centers served over 2,300 voters in this election. Even in all ballot-bymail elections, state law requires each jurisdiction to provide a ballot replacement center
within its boundaries.
 We are exceptionally grateful to the 148 poll workers and 111 central board workers who
supported this election.
 Nearly 88% of voters returned their ballot via
the United States Postal Service. Approximately
36,400 (11.8%) of ballots were dropped off at
ballot drop-boxes.
 Over 40 appointees from Maricopa County
political parties observed the county's election
processes throughout the entire election. We
appreciate their contributions.
Remember, during an election cycle voters can track their ballots online at BeBallotReady.Vote!
More historical election results dating back to 2000 are currently available online at Results.Maricopa.Vote.

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Just the Facts
In 2021, the Elections Department debuted a new website for facts about elections in Maricopa
County: JustTheFacts.Vote.
The site is divided into three main sections:
 The Facts section explains laws and guidelines that inform how the county conducts

elections, and the checks and balances in place to ensure accuracy.

 The Myth Busters section addresses inaccurate claims about mail-in ballots, voter

registration, the security of the county’s election system, and more.

 Correcting the Record section provides Maricopa County’s in-depth analysis and

technical response to the Senate inquiry of the 2020 General Election. Learn more about
Correcting the Record below.

The website further demonstrates Maricopa County’s commitment to transparency and to
educating and empowering voters with timely, accurate information. The Elections Department
will continue to update the page with new information as it arises.
Visit JustTheFacts.Vote and be sure to subscribe to the “Just the Facts” newsletter.

Correcting the Record
Maricopa County is committed to providing accessible, reliable,
secure, transparent, and efficient elections. The Maricopa
County Elections Department and Office of the Recorder issued
a report titled Correcting the Record: Maricopa County’s InDepth Analysis of the Senate Inquiry as the final word to the
Arizona Senate’s inquiry on Maricopa County’s administration
of the November 2020 General Election.
The in-depth analysis and review of the reports and presentations issued by the Senate’s
contractors found that nearly every finding included faulty analysis, inaccurate claims,
misleading conclusions, and a lack of understanding of federal and state election laws. Our
review of the claims made by Cyber Ninjas, CyFIR, EchoMail, and the Senate’s Audit Liaisons
found:
 22 are misleading. The claims lead the reader to assume a conclusion that is not

supported by the evidence.

 41 are inaccurate. The claims include flawed or misstated analysis.
 13 are false. The claims are demonstrably false and can be proven false using materials

provided to the Senate.

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The November 2020 General Election results were accurate. This has been proven through
statutorily required accuracy tests, nine court cases, hand counts performed by the
political parties, and multiple post-election audits. The Elections Department followed all
federal and state election laws.
Post-election audits build trust and promote election integrity when they have bipartisan
oversight and are conducted by experienced, unbiased professionals who use well-defined,
proven processes to provide quantifiable, reproducible proof. These audits can also identify and
explain any inconsistencies that arise so processes may be improved, or new laws may be
considered.
Unfortunately, the Senate’s election review and its contractors fell far short of those standards
and instead promoted disinformation and distrust. This report details those shortcomings and
corrects the record.
Read the Report

Download the Exhibits

Read the Press Release

Premium Poll Worker Training
During large election cycles, the Elections Department will hire more than 4,000 temporary staff.
In 2021, the Recruitment and Training team launched a new Premium Poll Worker training
program designed for leaders of voting locations. Statistics of the program:
 12 Premium Poll Worker Trainings held in 2021
 170 Premium Poll Workers certified in 2021
o

The 12 classes which certified 170 Premium Poll Workers in 2021 achieved just
over a third of the overall goal of certifying two poll workers at each voting
location for the 2022 Primary and General Elections.

 7 more Premium Poll Worker classes were held in January 2022. The certification window
is still active for these trainees’ final exam, but the department estimates that another
100 poll workers will be certified from these classes, which will bring the Elections
Department to over half of the 2021 – 2022 goal.
 The Training Team will offer 15 more Premium classes between March and August 2022
to achieve the goal of certifying two poll workers at each voting location for the 2022
Primary and General Elections.

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Informed Delivery
For the November 2021 Jurisdictional
Elections, the Elections Department
and Recorder’s Office added a new
tracking feature through USPS
Informed Delivery. Voters can sign up
for USPS Informed Delivery
notifications to access a digital preview
of their ballot and the scheduled
delivery date. The 2021 pilot was a
success: of the approximately 1.4
million ballots mailed, this campaign
was applied to over 428,000 individual
Informed Delivery email subscribers
with over 256,000 emails opened. To
promote adoption of this technology,
the USPS offers a discount, which
decreased postage costs for the Office.
We look forward to continuing to
provide this feature for voters! Sign up
for USPS Informed Delivery
notifications here.

Awards and Recognition
U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) 2020 Clearinghouse Awards
In March 2021, the Elections
Department was nationally
recognized for its creation of
Locations.Maricopa.Vote – a
website that allows voters to
find nearby voting locations
and see the wait times at
each location. The U.S.
Election Assistance
Commission named the
Maricopa County Elections
Department a 2020 Clearinghouse ‘Clearie’ Award winner in the Outstanding Innovations in
Elections category for creatively improving election administration while advancing new and
innovative concepts.

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Maricopa County Risk Management
Maricopa County’s Risk Management Department awarded the Elections Day Services Manager
and Vote Center Lead with safety recognition pins to acknowledge the Office’s successful safety
practices. Over the past two years, the Office has managed 50 truck drivers and 58 ballot courier
drivers that drove an estimated 54,000 miles with zero moving violations, zero major accidents,
and zero injuries.

Be Ballot Ready – Tenga Boleta Lista
Voting History
The personalized voter dashboard at BeBallotReady.Vote /
TengaBoletaLista.Voto continues to add new features to help
voters #BeBallotReady. Voters can use this dashboard to check
and update their voter registration status, view important
election deadlines, track their ballot during an election, and
learn more about the elections process. Now voters can view
their own voting history for the past 10 years as seen in the
image on the left.

Phil in the Blanks
In addition to checking or updating their voter registration status on the BeBallotReady.Vote
dashboard, voters can learn more about the elections process through the “Phil in the Blanks”
video series.
Did you know?
The Maricopa County Elections Department created the “BeBallotReady.Vote” and
“TengaBoletaLista.Voto” voter outreach campaign and the corresponding
websites in English and Spanish to inform voters about their 2020
voting options and provide voters a one-stop-shop to check their voter
registration status, update their information, find voting locations,
view their sample ballot, track their early ballot and more. The
campaign and corresponding websites received the 2021 National
Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award in the Civic &
Public Information Category as an example of using creative marketing and
communications tools to reach Maricopa County voters and inform them on
how they could #BeBallotReady for #Elections2020. The Department
continues to develop and utilize the Be Ballot Ready portal for voters to use
as their one-stop location for voting and elections information.

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External Affairs Department
Constituent Relations Team
Throughout 2021 the Constituent Relations Team responded to media requests, participated in
local, national, and international interviews across print, radio, and television outlets, and
collaborated on panels and events in efforts to educate voters and defend the fidelity of our
election system. The team provides information to the public through quarterly 3 and annual
reports, by directly assisting constituents day-to-day, fulfilling public records requests, and
managing the Deputy Registrar program for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.

Constituent Correspondence
In addition to calls transferred to the team from the Maricopa County STAR Center, constituents
contact the Office through multiple email inboxes and social media channels. The Recorder’s
Office Constituent Relations Team directly handles constituent requests and escalates issues as
needed to the appropriate subject matter experts throughout the Recorder’s Office and
Elections Department. The Office receives hundreds of emails weekly from constituents. The
highest inquiries include voter registration requests, questions about the reprecincting process,
and questions about election administration.

Public Records Requests
The Office greatly improved the organization of public records requests and response time in
2021, despite a significant increase overall in the number of records requests. With the adoption
of the Maricopa County public records request portal (search for Recorder By Department), a
requestor can directly submit a non-commercial or commercial purpose public records request
online, which streamlines the process and assigns a number to the request for tracking
purposes. Requests received through other methods with the appropriate completed form are
entered into this portal by the Custodian of Public Records for consistency in numbering and
tracking.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, October 1 – December 31, the Office received 96 public
records requests. Records requests from the media accounted for 18 of the 96. Staff worked
hard to complete these requests, and all but 6 of the 96 have been entirely resolved.
October 1 – December 31, 2021 Figures:
Extensive Research
51
Voter Data
20
Voter Information
25
Total:
96

See Publications page for: 2021 Quarter 1 Report, 2021 Quarter 2 Report, 2021 Quarter 3 Report. This report
serves as both the fourth quarter and 2021 Annual Report.
3

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From January 1 to December 31, 2021, the Office received 368 public records requests. Records
requests from the media accounted for 71 of the 368. Staff worked hard to complete these
requests, and all but 24 of the 368 have been entirely resolved.
January 1 – December 31, 2021 Figures:
Extensive Research
169
Voter Data
92
Voter Information
107
Total:
368

Deputy Registrar Program
The Recorder’s Office Deputy Registrar program trains and certifies volunteers to provide voter
registration and election information in their communities. In addition to the introductory
training and certification class, the program expanded its curriculum in 2021 to offer continuing
education courses to these volunteers.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the Office certified 30 new Deputy Registrars. The Office also
presented three continuing education courses during this timeframe covering topics such as
Proposition 200. We are excited by the turnout for these classes and look forward to expanding
the series in 2022. Here is the 2021 annual recap of the Deputy Registrar program figures:





141 new Deputy Registrars were certified and added to this corps
820 total Deputy Registrars with the Office as of December 31 4
13 Deputy Registrar Introduction Classes offered in 2021
8 Continuing Education Classes offered in 2021, covering topics such as:
o 2 “Deputy Registrar Refresher” courses
o 2 “2021 Arizona Legislative Updates” courses
o 3 “Proposition 200” courses
o 1 “Top Voter Issues of 2020” course

We’ve had increased interest from corporations around topics of election laws, voter
registration, and election administration. The Recorder’s Office is now partnering with
corporations to provide non-partisan, fact-based information to the corporation’s employees. If
you represent an interested company, please contact Ilene at voterinfo@risc.maricopa.gov.
Did you know?
The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office Constituent Relations Team received a
2021 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement Award in
recognition of the Deputy Registrar Program providing critical voter registration,
election, and voter education information in the country’s second largest voting
jurisdiction. The program received the award in the Volunteers category for
highlighting how county residents engage and empower their community.
Total also reflects maintenance and removal of 62 individuals from the program due to death, a move out of
county or self-separation from program, or outdated contact information
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Legislative Affairs
The Legislative Affairs teams monitor legislations affecting the Maricopa County Elections and
Recording Departments. This team reviews proposed bills, estimates needed resources to
implement and comply with new laws, responds to inquiries from state legislators, proposes
solutions, and partners with Recorders from all 15 Arizona counties, the National Association of
Counties (NACo) and Arizona Association of Counties (AACo).
The process of this team with respect to election and voter registration laws is guided by the
following principles:
 Arizona election administration can and should be improved.
 Legislative reforms are an important component of improving Arizona’s elections.
 Proposed legislative reforms should address real, material, verifiable needs or
weaknesses in election administration.
 Real, material, verifiable needs or weaknesses in election administration should be
addressed by effective solutions—as defined by scientific studies or credible material
evidence.
 Proposed legislative reforms should impose no larger burden to voters than is necessary
to address a real, material, verifiable need or weakness.
 Ex-post assessments and penalties should be favored over ex-ante regulatory burdens
imposed on all voters. In other words, reforms should favor post-election assessments to
determine the functionality of systems and identify and punish any election felonies
rather than a system that imposes additional burdens on every voter, the vast, vast
majority of whom are complying with the law.
 Those who administer elections are necessary and important contributors to the creation
of election laws.
In addition to the actions of the legislative team, the Recorder has taken an active role in
legislative affairs by proposing legislative ideas to state lawmakers. These suggestions include
reviewing the voter registration database to ensure that it remains clean and up-to-date, making
tabulation faster and more transparent, and conducting periodic audits by qualified parties. The
Recorder shared these ideas and others in an opinion piece for The Arizona Republic.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact the team at voterinfo@risc.maricopa.gov.

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Appendix A – Recording Services Statistics
Appendix A – Recording Services Statistics – Infographic Figure A1

Figure A1 graphs the documents recorded and method recorded (digital, paper, or kiosk) by year from
2010 – 2011.

The Recording Services department accepts documents for the creation of a permanent public record.
These documents are often real property related (ex. deeds, titles, liens) and include any encumbrances
placed on real property. Approximately 93% of all documents are now recorded digitally through the
Recorder’s Office online portal, and the Office continues to process documents mailed in and serve
customers in-person at the public counter in downtown Phoenix.

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Appendix A – Recording Services Statistics – Infographic Figure A2

Figure A2 pictured above graphs the revenue generated for the Maricopa County General Fund by the
Recording Services Department broken down by calendar year from 2001 – 2021.

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Appendix A – Recording Services Statistics – Infographic Figure A3

Figure A3 pictured above graphs the average number of documents recorded daily by month and year
from 2010 – 2021.

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Appendix B – Voter Registration Figures
See Voter Registration totals updated in real time on our website.
The following pages contain information about Voter Registration figures in Maricopa County for both
the fourth quarter of 2021 and the 2021 calendar year in review.

Infographic B1 (Appendix B Page 2) contains figures on*:
Newly registered voters by party in Maricopa County between October 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021
Political Party Voter Registration changes in Maricopa County from October 1, 2021 – December 31,
2021

Infographic B2 (Appendix B Page 3) contains figures on*:
Totals of active registered voters by party in Maricopa County as of January 31, 2022
Total of newly registered voters by party in Maricopa County between January 1, 2021 – January 1, 2022
Political Party Voter Registration changes in Maricopa County between January 1, 2021 – January 1,
2022

*All data retrieved January 31, 2022. Voter registration figures may fluctuate in real time due to ongoing voter
list maintenance

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