PHOENIX — An alleged theft at a Maricopa County tabulation and election center has sparked a criminal investigation, county officials said Monday.
Court documents and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office connected 27-year-old Walter Ringfield Jr., a temporary election worker for the county, with the theft.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Investigación criminal tras reporte de robo en el centro de tabulación de boletas electorales del Condado Maricopa
Around 5 p.m. on Thursday, Ringfield Jr. allegedly stole a lanyard with a security fob and keys attached from the tabulation center, court documents claim. His home was searched the next day and authorities reportedly found the stolen item there.
The security fob was out of storage because the office was conducting an equipment test that day, Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said.
The security fob in question was used with special secure tablets during the election. As such, all tablets will need to be reprogrammed as a security measure. Facility administration expects the reprogramming will cost the county around $19,000, documents state.
An official with the county confirmed that Ringfield Jr. had been fired, but was unable to provide further details due to the active investigation.
MCSO stressed that they're still in the "fact-finding" phase of the investigation and several details are still pending further review as they work through the evidence. At this point they don't have anything that indicates Ringfield Jr. was not acting alone.
Elections employees found that the key was missing and confronted Ringfield Jr. on the same day of the alleged theft. MCSO thanked staff for their quick response and emphasized that election security planning and training was effective.
"I do not expect this to have any impact whatsoever on the upcoming primary," Gates said. "Hopefully what [our response] should do is instill confidence in the community."
The elections office will be studying the event to see if changes to security protocols are needed, however Gates said that the speedy response showed that protocols worked.
The county released the following statement on Monday:
"Maricopa County Elections has referred a matter to law enforcement that involves an alleged theft of an item by a temporary election worker from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center.
On Friday morning, when completing a daily inventory, Maricopa County elections workers identified that an item was taken from the Ballot Tabulation Center on Thursday evening, and staff took immediate action to investigate the matter and contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. 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."
This is a developing story. Stay with 12News for more updates.
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UP TO SPEED
What is the Valley?:
“The Valley” is what locals call the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. It is considered the largest metropolitan area in the Southwest.
The Valley is made up of various major cities other than Phoenix, including:
- Mesa
- Chandler
- Scottsdale
- Tempe
- Glendale
- Surprise
- Peoria
- Gilbert
- El Mirage
- Avondale
- Litchfield Park
- Goodyear
- Buckeye
Whether a city is in the “East Valley” or “West Valley” depends on where it is in relation to Phoenix.
The cities of the Valley have a combined population of 4,845,832 people, according to the 2020 United States Census. This makes it the 11th largest metropolitan area in the country right behind the Boston and Atlanta areas.
How big is Maricopa County?
Maricopa County is the United States’ 4th largest county in terms of population with 4,485,414 people, according to the 2020 Census.
The county contains around 63% of Arizona’s population and is 9,224 square miles. That makes the county larger than seven U.S. states (Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, Hawaii, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire).
One of the largest park systems in the nation is also located in Maricopa County. The county has an estimated 120,000 acres of open space parks that includes hundreds of miles of trails, nature centers and campgrounds.
The county’s seat is located in Phoenix, which is also the state capital and the census-designated 5th most populous city in the United States.
The county was named after the Maricopa, or Piipaash, Native American Tribe.