For stealing a security fob and keys from the Maricopa County Tabulation Election Center (MCTEC) om Thursday, a temporary election worker has been arrested last week. The worker named, Walter Ringfield of age 27 years was taken into custody on Friday on charges of theft and criminal damage. He is not eligible for any bond.
MCTEC is situated on Third Avenue and Lincoln Street in downtown Phoenix. Ballots were being counted here during 2020 and 2022 elections. Other election workers discovered that an item was taken from the Ballot Tabulation Center the previous evening during daily inventory on Friday morning. “Staff took immediate action to investigate the matter and contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office,” Jennifer Liewer, a spokesperson for the elections department, said in a statement Monday.
It was seen on surveillance camera, that Ringfield was taking the missing item from a desk around 5 p.m. on Thursday. “On the desk there was a red scrunchy wrist lanyard with a security fob and keys attached,” the probable cause statement for Ringfield’s arrest says. “Walter stops at the desk, grabs the lanyard with security fob and continues walking. Walter then puts the security fob and lanyard into the right pocket of his shorts.”
“The stolen item has been recovered, but to ensure the integrity of Maricopa County Elections, election workers are reprogramming and re-conducting logic and accuracy testing of all equipment,” Liewer said.