A judge has ruled in favor of Arizona's Maricopa County election official in a legal dispute over election authority with the local board that shares responsibility for overseeing elections.

The ruling favors Justin Heap, the top election official in Arizona's most populous county, which includes Phoenix. The decision grants his office more authority in running elections following what has been described as a prolonged legal fight with the county board.

Maricopa County has been at the center of election-related controversies since the 2020 presidential election, when Donald Trump lost Arizona to Joe Biden. The county has faced ongoing scrutiny from election conspiracy theorists in the years since.

The ruling comes as Arizona prepares for several high-profile races in the upcoming election cycle. As one of the nation's most prominent battleground states, any changes to election administration in Maricopa County could have broader implications for how elections are conducted.

The specific details of the authority dispute between Heap's office and the county board were not immediately clear. The judge's decision appears to resolve questions about which entity holds primary responsibility for certain aspects of election administration in the county.