NICE TRY

Arizona Election Worker Accused of Stealing Keys to Voting Machines

Walter Ringfield Jr., was previously charged with theft in July 2023, but was not convicted.

Only shy of a month out from the Arizona primary, an election worker was arrested for allegedly stealing a key fob and keys used to access a voting tabulation room in the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center. Walter Ringfield Jr. was arrested Friday after he was alleged to have stolen a lanyard that held the fob and keys the day before, according to the Arizona Mirror. Ringfield Jr. started as a temporary election worker at the center on June 3 and was fired on Friday after staff noticed that morning that a lanyard was missing. Security camera footage allegedly captured him stuffing the lanyard into his pocket, according to a statement put out by Maricopa County law enforcement. He denied stealing the lanyard when confronted on Friday, qualifying that if he mistakenly did, “it may be inside his car,” where staff did find the lanyard, according to the Mirror. However, the fob was missing, prompting police to raid his home later in the day, where they found it. Ringfield Jr. had previously been charged with theft but, given he entered a diversion program and was not convicted, it didn’t show up in a background check, a county spokesperson said. Maricopa County was at the center of many of Donald Trump’s unproven claims of a stolen election in 2020.