Although she has a lower profile, Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell has been an elected county official longer than Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

            Purcell is wrapping up her seventh term as recorder and is seeking an eighth term in this fall’s election.

            Purcell spoke to the Fountain Hills Republican Club on July 16 and talked about her career in public service. She also spoke about an election hiccup this spring that brought out a Republican Primary Election challenger, as well as a Democratic challenger in November.

            The snafu came with the Presidential Preference Primary in February when polling sites were overwhelmed with people wanting to cast ballots, leaving some waiting hours to vote.

            Purcell took the heat for reducing the number of polling sites in the county for that election, the number was cut roughly in half from about 120 to 60.

            “We feel we do very well,” Purcell said. “We have made many changes.”

            The primary problem is the only significant issue in her tenure overseeing elections for the county.

            County officials are taking extra time to review the polling sites for upcoming elections on Aug. 30.

            Purcell said there are 2.3 million voters in Maricopa County and voter information regarding registration, polling locations and early balloting can be obtained at recorder.az.gov/elections.

            Purcell urges voters to vote in the precinct they are registered in, bring proper identification and, if using an early mail ballot, get it in the mail in time to reach the county by Election Day. These steps will help greatly in reducing the number of provisional ballots that are time-consuming to count and have caused significant delays in getting final results.

            If you use an early ballot, don’t forget to sign the envelope for verification.

            Managing elections is only part of the job done by the Recorder’s Office. They are responsible for recording and maintaining official documents in Maricopa County ranging from land use to death certificates and everything in between.

            There are between 3,000 and 5,000 documents recorded every day in Maricopa County according to Purcell. The office is considered one of the most innovative in the country.

            The system has been automated since 1991 and, in recent years, satellite kiosks have been installed at county libraries allowing people to record documents without going to Phoenix.

            The Fountain Hills Branch Library had the second recorder’s kiosk installed, and now there are nine around the county, the most recent installed in Wickenburg.

            “We are the only recorder’s office in the country with this kind of technology,” Purcell said.

            The Maricopa County Recorder’s Office was established in 1871, 40 years before Arizona became a state. Purcell is the second woman to hold the job.