Former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer may no longer have the public support he needed to stay in office, yet even while unpopular he remains committed to defending the status quo on elections administration.
The former recorder took to X to again criticize President Donald Trump, this time over the president’s latest plan to do away with mail-in ballots and replace voting machines with watermark paper.
Let's run through Trump's screed on election administration from this morning.
1) "Voting Machines."
Most "voting machines" are simply scanners that read the ovals that you hand marked on your ballot.
These work the same way that scanners work when you took standardized… pic.twitter.com/khWSTBXnOs
— Stephen Richer (@stephen_richer) August 18, 2025
Although, Richer didn’t say all the president’s ideas were bad — he did give credit to Trump for removing men from women’s sports.
Mail-in voting was at the center of Arizona’s problems in the hotly contested 2022 governor’s race. Thousands of voters were disenfranchised due to state error.
Reminder: @krismayes sued to ensure lawful voters were not counted and was installed into office after an election that @AbrahamHamadeh won by THOUSANDS of votes. https://t.co/onERSF8vdZ
— Abe Hamadeh War Room (@AbeWarRoom) August 18, 2025
Congressman Abe Hamadeh also spoke out against Attorney General Kris Mayes for contradicting the president with the claim that mail-in voting was safe and secure. Thousands of voters didn’t have their votes counted for Hamadeh during his race for attorney general against Mayes in 2022.
“The only reason you [Mayes] are in office is because of election manipulation — you’re illegitimate, and we’re not elected, but rather selected by a corrupt cabal,” said Hamadeh. “President Trump is going to fix our broken election system and I will be there to help all the way.”
The only reason you are in office is because of election manipulation — you’re illegitimate and we’re not elected, but rather selected by a corrupt cabal.
President Trump is going to fix our broken election system and I will be there to help all the way. https://t.co/Uyy7IWkK5G
— Abe Hamadeh (@AbrahamHamadeh) August 18, 2025
Richer’s continued defense of mail-in voting aligns with his highly scrutinized actions while in office, including the unlawful use of public resources to publish a statement on behalf of the Arizona Association of County Recorders opposing Proposition 309: the 2022 ballot measure to provide voter ID on mail-in ballots. Richer admitted his action was “not appropriate,” but dismissed its severity.
The former recorder also worked to expand controversial election practices opposed by many Republican voters, including ballot drop boxes and the establishment of a disinformation center and press pass restrictions.
Following his primary loss last year, the former recorder focused some of the last efforts of his office on nullifying the voter registrations of over 100,000 voters. A state government clerical error was to blame for the registration mishap — not the voters, many of whom possessed an Arizona driver’s license predating 1996. Yet Richer attempted to carry out the systematic removal and disenfranchisement of voters weeks inside the federal timeline to do so.
Although no longer an elected official, Richer remains active behind the scenes in politics.
Richer joined the board of the States United Democracy Center (SUDC) board. Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes secretively outsourced their governmental authority to SUDC. The leftist organization, based out of Washington, D.C., provided legal counsel representation and advice to prosecute Trump supporters.
Richer also joined the board of State Democracy Defenders Fund (SDDF), a Democratic-led organization with the goal of undermining election policies and initiatives from Republicans. SDDF is affiliated with Civil Service Strong, a coalition formed by the former longtime Democratic Party lawyer Marc Elias. Since forming last year, the SDDF has filed numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration.
In February, Richer joined Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center fellowship in American democracy, which runs through November of this year. Richer is a “senior practice fellow” within the “Reimagining Democracy Program,” which seeks to “make democracy more resilient, responsive, and inclusive.”
Richer also became an adjunct scholar with the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, focusing on election administration, American democracy, executive orders, and American politics.
The Aspen Institute also recruited Richer to serve as a Civil Society Fellow. This liberal think tank was central to the cover-up of Hunter Biden’s laptop, suppressing a story which many believe swayed the election in former President Joe Biden’s favor.
Another organization initially joined by Richer was the Conservative Agenda for Arizona (CAA). This organization seeks to steer Republicans away from a party led by Trump. He is no longer listed on CAA’s advisory board.
Before leaving office, Richer undertook one last effort to undermine Republican election integrity efforts. The former recorder entered into a Shared Services Agreement in the waning weeks of his office with the former Maricopa County Board of Supervisors that reduced the recorder’s election-related responsibilities and budgeting.