An Arizona State Capitol insider with knowledge of recent incidents there told The Arizona Sun Times that progressive activist Walter Ringfield, Jr. – the same man who was arrested for allegedly stealing an election machine tabulator key fob – was caught breaking and entering into the Arizona Senate recently. Video surveillance footage allegedly caught him stealing collectible coins from the security area and walking around on the third floor unauthorized. When apprehended by security, he was asked to leave. The insiders said that Ringfield told security he was there to deliver some documents to State Senator Juan Mendez (D-Tempe).
News reports about the election key fob theft broke a Monday. According to a police report obtained by The Sun Times, surveillance video shows Ringfield putting the set into his pocket.
Primary ballots will be mailed out on July 3.
The 27-year-old Ringfield was charged with one count of misdemeanor theft and one count of felony criminal damage. He is still in jail, having been denied bail due to his prior criminal history and the felony charge. According to the police report, he initially claimed he only took the items for 20 minutes, but after looking in his car and executing a search warrant at his residence, the items were recovered.
The police report states – without further explanation – “Walter said the job was temporary and he was trying to make it permanent, so he wanted to clean up.”
The Tucson Sentinel described the stolen items as follows: “The lanyard had a plastic key on it as well as the security fob, which workers use to gain access to the machines to program them. The workers hold the fob to the tabulators and then enter a password before getting access.”
Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates and Sheriff Russ Skinner held a joint press conference Tuesday morning to address the incident. Gates confirmed that the stolen equipment was used to access tabulators on Election Day.
Holding up a black key, Gates said, “So this black security key right here, this is utilized under normal circumstances. This is just used on Election Day. This is for the Election Day tabulators. So the folks who are involved in that going out to the 223 vote centers that we have across Maricopa County on July 30, on primary day. This will be out there. What we do at the beginning of each day, we do an inventory check and make sure that we have all of these black security keys.”
Gates added, “We did that on Friday morning. We found that one was missing. So immediately, our team and elections, they spoke to all of the people who were working in the ballot tabulation center on Thursday, the day before, and they also reviewed the security camera footage. So we have security cameras, we also have the live stream cameras. They evaluated that, and they determined that the suspect that we’ve been talking about had taken the black security key and put it in his pocket and then removed it from the ballot tabulation center.”
After stating that the keys had been reprogrammed since the incident, he dismissed concerns as conspiracy theories.
“Is there any concern that this could spark a new wave of new conspiracy theories, so unfortunately, as you say at Maricopa County, we have been subject to many conspiracy theories over the past few years, which have been debunked time and time again,” he said. “I certainly hope that people don’t take this incident to spin up news conspiracy theories.”
An account on X named @mad_liberals, known for its intensive research into election fraud, said the admin accounts at Maricopa County all use the same password, showing how it is improper security. “Everyone is listed as an admin with same password,” the account said, displaying a screenshot of the alleged accounts. “That’s an encrypted password that I’m showing. The real password is an 8 digit number. That’s why you’re forced to reburn every fob when one is compromised. Otherwise, you’d just remove the one user.”
Everyone is listed as an admin with same password.
That's an encrypted password that I'm showing. The real password is an 8 digit number.
That's why you're forced to reburn every fob when one is compromised. Otherwise, you'd just remove the one user. pic.twitter.com/O6vc7N7swQ
— Mad Liberals (@mad_liberals) June 25, 2024
Although Gates said a PIN is needed along with the fob to access the tabulators, @mad_liberals said, “All users have the exact same PINs for the entire county.”
During the press conference, Skinner clarified that the stolen key was more accurately referred to as a “digital magnetic key,” not a key fob.
The duo noted that Ringfield’s social media accounts were wiped clean or deleted after he was arrested with one exception, his TruthSocial site. Mainstream news articles used that to claim he was a Republican. During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room, Kari Lake’s advisor Carolyn Wren observed that when someone is arrested, usually the only one who can get access to multiple social media accounts owned by them is the FBI.
Last year, Walter Ringfield Jr. reportedly filed a statement of interest to run for the U.S. Senate as a Democrat against Kari Lake and others. It has not been fully confirmed that he did so.
Ringfield graduated from Arizona State University with degrees in Political Science and Government. He used to be a Democrat, but is not currently registered with any party now, a Washington Post reporter posted on X.
ABC15 reported that Ringfield was arrested last September for allegedly stealing $1,800 from his employer, Fry’s. He has been arrested three times previously; on September 12, 2021, October 3, 2023, and March 1, 2024.
Ringfield started an LLC called The Future is LLC in January 2024. Records show he was allegedly evicted from somewhere in 2019, and had an insurance license to work at State Farm that expired in 2022.
The Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center, meanwhile, has been plagued with security issues since 2020.
Bob Branch, a conservative running for the Board of Maricopa County Supervisors against incumbent Clint Hickman in District 4, told The Sun Times about his personal experience with MTEC’s poor security protocols, alluding to bias.
“What happened at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) is shocking, but unfortunately, not surprising,” he said. “During the Presidential Preference Election (PPE), I requested a tour of MCTEC and was informed that they were in ‘lockdown’ for the election, meaning no tours were allowed. I was initially impressed by this strict adherence to security protocols, as it is essential for maintaining the integrity of our elections.”
He continued, “However, a week later, my opponent requested and was granted a tour during the same lockdown period. This prompted me to call the County Supervisor’s office, and I was subsequently granted a tour as well, despite the supposed lockdown.
“Having a military background in a top-secret job, I understand that rules governing security are never bent or broken. But it is evident that MCTEC leadership does not uphold the same standards. This lack of consistent and strong leadership is precisely why a temporary worker, who should not have had access, was able to steal a digital magnetic security key. This incident underscores the urgent need for robust and uncompromising election integrity measures.”
Kari Lake’s attorney Bryan Blehm told The Sun Times, “The timing is odd … so soon after our trial to get the names of those who conducted signature verification. I think this is a self-serving setup as far as I can tell at this point. Is it an effort to gin up threats to our election system to justify enhanced security and secrecy?”
A former Maricopa County official connected to law enforcement emailed The Sun Times with skepticism. “Looks like a setup to me,” he said. “Have some fall guy test the ability to beat the system, then show his ‘capture’ and thereby reassure the public there’s nothing to see here. I wouldn’t put it past those slimeballs to have orchestrated all of this.”
The Sun Times sent the former official’s assessment to a well-known former prosecutor in Arizona. He responded, “That’s an interesting theory. It crossed my mind as well. It all seemed so convenient and self serving. And it reinforces Maricopa County’s narrative that they’re on top of things and anything ‘amiss’ they would have stopped. I don’t know enough about this, but if the temp working had access to that, does that mean instead of taking the fob, someone could have copied info or injected something into system? I just don’t know much about this.”
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley released the following statement: “The RNC and AZGOP dispatched attorneys and observers on the ground as part of our election integrity program to gather information and promote transparency as the situation developed. The RNC and AZGOP have a long history of engaging in Maricopa County election issues both in the field and in the courtroom, and yesterday’s events are an example of our election integrity program’s capacity to provide real-time legal response when issues arise at tabulation centers. This incident raises serious questions about election security in Arizona that must be answered – we will be constructively engaged with Maricopa County officials to ensure that the remedies to this security breach sufficiently address our concerns.”
According to Votebeat, the suspect’s father, Walter Ringfield Sr., said in a phone interview that he “will wait to pass judgment until all of the facts come out.”
Maricopa County said in a statement sent to reporters that it will redo Logic & Accuracy testing on the voting machine tabulators.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on July 1 at at South Court Tower, 175 W. Madison Street, 2nd Floor, Phoenix, AZ, 85003-2243 Courtroom: 2C. The Sun Times left a message with Ringfield’s sister but did not receive a response by press time.
Watch Carolyn Wren’s Tuesday interview on Bannon’s WarRoom:
– – –
Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
