Walter Ringfield Jr., the 27-year-old Phoenix resident charged with stealing keys to voting equipment from Maricopa County elections headquarters, has a history of theft allegations - and an apparent interest in running for public office.
Ringfield remains in custody without bail, and faces charges of theft and criminal damage for allegedly stealing a security key from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, MCTEC for short, where he’d briefly worked as a temporary staffer.
What do officials say Ringfield stole?
Maricopa County election staff identified the stolen item almost immediately on June 20.
Security footage reviewed that same day showed Ringfield removing a red lanyard from a desk with two items attached: a magnetic security key, used as one part of a multi-step process required to activate ballot tabulation machines; and a second key, used to unlock plastic bins that tabulation machines are stacked on top of.
What was Ringfield’s job at county election headquarters?
Ringfield was hired as a temporary employee in the ballot and tabulation center, according to Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for the county elections department.
As a temporary employee, Liewer said Ringfield was tasked with “assisting staff with the logic and accuracy testing, it’s ensuring cleanup or cleaning of the tabulation machines, there could be paperwork.”
“There’s a variety of duties,” she added, but it’s not as though Ringfield gained access to a part of election headquarters he wasn’t supposed to be in: “He was assigned to the ballot tabulation center.”
What about Ringfield’s other alleged offenses?
The alleged theft from MCTEC is not Ringfield’s first brush with the law.
The Department of Public Safety confirmed Thursday that Ringfield is also under investigation for a theft that occurred earlier this month at the Arizona Senate.
Senate staff reported the incident to DPS on June 19, a few days after the theft occurred.
Earlier this week, Senate Republican officials posted security footage to X, formerly known as Twitter, that shows a man, confirmed by DPS to be Ringfield, entering a stairwell on the first floor of the Senate that’s restricted to public access.
According to a statement from DPS, Ringfield stole challenge coins and other “desk accessories” from the desk of a Senate security staffer.
DPS later executed a search warrant at Ringfield’s home and recovered the stolen items. Ringfield has been charged with trespassing, theft and burglary.
Ringfield was also arrested in 2023 for stealing more than $1,000 in cash from a Fry’s grocery store.
Maricopa County election officials say Ringfield's prior criminal history was not flagged in a background check because he entered a diversion program following the Fry’s incident.
Ringfield is currently being held in jail. According to court documents, he is not eligible for bail because he was already on felony release following the 2023 theft case.
Was Ringfield a candidate for public office?
County election staff confirmed Ringfield also filed paperwork to run for public office this election cycle.
Ringfield filed a statement of interest – a declaration of one’s candidacy – in January 2023 as a Democrat in the race for U.S. Senate.
However, Ringfield never turned in the signatures required to qualify for the ballot, nor did he meet the qualifications to run for that office.
Candidates must be at least 30 years old to run for U.S. Senate. And Ringfield is not a registered Democrat – he briefly registered as a Democrat in September 2016, but changed his registration again 11 days later to become an independent.
Ringfield has shown interest, however, in Democratic races. As an independent, Ringfield requested to vote Democratic ballots in the 2020 and 2022 primary elections.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer initially denied that Ringfield was the same person who filed a statement of interest in the U.S. Senate race, but later issued a correction and apology.
