Jen Fifield

Jen Fifield

Senior Reporter

Jen Fifield previously covered Maricopa County and Phoenix for The Arizona Republic, including the high-profile review of the county’s 2020 election. Prior to that, she covered politics and government for local newspapers in Maryland and state policy for Stateline, a news service run by The Pew Charitable Trusts. She has won several regional press awards in Arizona and Maryland for her investigative, feature, politics and education reporting. Jen is a Phoenix native and graduated from Arizona State University’s Cronkite School.

Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap says supervisors failed to negotiate who runs what parts of the county’s elections.

County residents affected by a state error will be able to vote in the coming congressional primary, but will have to provide documents to maintain their eligibility after that.

A 14-count indictment alleges that Republican Austin Smith signed petitions for 10 voters himself.

A fellowship program created by Secretary of State Adrian Fontes helps counties replenish a talent pool that’s drying up.

Justice Department letters cite Wisconsin’s handling of complaints, Arizona’s identification checks as violations of Help America Vote Act.

Judge allows for settlement between the county and a group of residents that calls for redoing the vote on a jail tax.

Justin Heap’s proposal conflicts with state law, but there’s a history in the county of helping voters avoid long trips to their polling place.

Consulting firm BerryDunn, which has worked for the county before, gets the recommendation. Past results won’t be a focus.

Arizona’s election manual sought to make it clear that county supervisors had no choice. But a judge’s ruling says it’s not up to state officials to decide.

The new security features, a response to years of false claims and conspiracy theories, will be introduced in the 2026 midterm election.