Helen Purcell, Maricopa County’s recorder and election director, shows no signs of slowing down – even in an off-election year. Managing her time is Purcell’s biggest challenge, as she oversees recording 1 million documents annually and modernizing the state’s largest election department. In her fifth term of office, Purcell also serves on a committee drafting new standards for voting systems throughout the United States and on the board of the National Association of Counties, among other organizations. “It’s easier now that my family is grown,” she says, the mother of two and grandmother of four. Her husband Joe, who Purcell says gave her the valued advice of being honest, consistent and to “learn everything you can,” passed away several years ago after 43 years of marriage.
Although Purcell’s office received an award from the Smithsonian in 2000, and the Maricopa County Elections Department’s vote-by-mail technology became part of the Computerworld Collection at the National Museum of American History, she says her proudest achievement is her staff.
Purcell is overseeing an effort to redact Social Security numbers from all county documents from 1986 onward, some 83 million images. Her office is also engaged in imaging all county documents from its formation in 1871.
She’s also looking toward Arizona’s future — its children. “We need to provide them with the best education and ensure the best infrastructure that we can make,” she says. “I want my grandchildren to be able to have all the things I’ve had and more.”
For all her achievements and accolades during her nearly two decades in public office, Purcell offers wry advice to women seeking policy posts: “Women have to have more qualifications than men. They always ask a woman her qualifications, but they don’t ask a man. We’ve come a long way, but not all the way.”
Nevertheless, one of Maricopa County’s most venerable and respected political figures still feels her work is rewarding. “We have two basic rights, owning property and voting,” she says. “It’s very important to supply the documents to purchase and record property and ensure elections are the best and most complete we can for the public.”