Maricopa County leaders and law enforcement say the rapid recovery of a piece of stolen election equipment is a reflection of strong security protocols.
Walter Ringfield Jr., a 27-year-old Phoenix resident and temporary election worker, allegedly stole a security key from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center on Thursday. Law enforcement say they recovered the key the following day and arrested Ringfield, who’s been charged with theft and criminal damage.
Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said the key is one part of a process necessary to activate the county’s tabulation machines — the key alone, he emphasized, wouldn’t be able to start the machines.
“I certainly hope that people don’t take this incident to spin up new conspiracy theories,” Gates said. “But that's exactly why the sheriff and I are here today to answer these questions to address this and frankly to let people know that our protocols worked.”
Gates, a Republican, and Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner said the theft won’t impact the upcoming July 30 primary.
“Now, MCTEC has to go through and ensure the integrity of that security, and reprogram those machines and those keys, and this is all because of one person’s criminal action,” Skinner said. “But, this reinforces our commitment to election security.”
It’ll cost at least $20,000 to reprogram and test the affected equipment, according to county officials.
Maricopa County election staffers noticed the key was missing Friday morning while conducting an inventory check. According to court records, surveillance footage showed Ringfield removing a red lanyard from a desk at county election headquarters at approximately 5 p.m. Thursday, and placing the lanyard in his pocket.
Liewer said Ringfield was assigned to the ballot tabulation center — his job included helping with logic and accuracy tests, and he was “supposed to be” in the room, she said.
Attached to the lanyard were the security key, as well as a second key that is used to open the door of a bin attached to tabulation machines. According to Maricopa County elections spokeswoman Jennifer Liewer, there were no ballots in those bins while the keys were missing.
Election officials confronted Ringfield about the theft, court records state. Ringfield denied taking the lanyard, though later specified that if he did, it was taken by mistake and likely in his vehicle.
On Friday, detectives with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at Ringfield’s Phoenix home. Ringfield admitted to detectives that he took the security key, but claimed he’d already returned it “after approximately 20 minutes.” Ringfield also told detectives he did so out of a desire to “clean up” and secure permanent employment with the county elections department.
Detectives later found the red lanyard in his car, and the security key in his bedroom.
Skinner said detectives are combing through digital evidence, including social media posts, as part of the investigation. There is no indication that the theft was politically motivated, he said Tuesday.
It’ll be up to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to prosecute the case.
Ringfield, who has been fired from the county election center, is being held without bail. As of Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office could not identify an attorney for Ringfield.
The alleged theft at election headquarters was not Ringfield’s first.
In September, he was arrested for stealing from a Fry’s grocery store, according to Maricopa County Superior Court records. Gates said Ringfield, like all county employees, received a background check, but his prior arrest was not noted because Ringfield had entered into a diversion program.
