A temporary election worker in Maricopa County is accused of stealing a key fob that allows access to a vote-counting machine.
On Friday morning, election officials at the Maricopa County Counting and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, noticed that the security fob and the key attached to the lanyard were missing. Investigators then Surveillance camera footage It was later discovered that Walter Lingfield Jr., a 27-year-old casual election staff member, had stolen the strap, key ring and keys around 5pm the previous day and shoved them in his shorts pocket.
He agreed to a diversion program and was given a deferred prosecution. Because the case did not result in a conviction, it did not appear on his background check.
Authorities then questioned Lingfield about the items. He initially was denied He added that he hadn’t taken anything, but that if he had accidentally taken anything, it would have been in the car. A quick search of his car revealed that the lanyard was gone, but not the keychain.
Lingfield also claimed he had returned everything he had taken within 20 minutes. Police then reportedly went to Lingfield’s home with a search warrant and found the missing key fob in the master bedroom.
Lingfield, who began working at the facility on June 3, reportedly later admitted to taking the items to “tidy up.” “Walter stated the job was temporary and he was looking to make it permanent and wanted to clean up,” the police report said, without specifying what “tidying up” meant.
Both a key fob and a password are required to access the tabulation machines. “To ensure the integrity of Maricopa County elections, election officials are reprogramming all of the equipment and rerunning logic and accuracy tests,” said Jennifer Lewer, a spokeswoman for the elections department. Officials estimate the reprogramming process will cost more than $19,000, a cost that will be covered by taxpayers.
“This incident is unwelcome, but [to] “The effectiveness of the security protocols built into Arizona’s election systems,” the Arizona Secretary of State’s office said in a statement.
Lingfield was arrested and charged with felony criminal damage to property and misdemeanor theft. He is being held without bail.
Lingfield has also been on the radar of law enforcement. Last fall, he was indicted on a theft charge for allegedly stealing more than $1,000 in cash from Fry’s Food and Drug. He agreed to a diversion program and received a deferred prosecution. Because the case did not result in a conviction, it did not come up in his background check, a Department of Elections spokesman said.
Lingfield was previously a registered Democrat but is no longer a registered party affiliation. 18 months agoCandidate Walter Lingfield Jr. has also filed a letter of intent to run as a Democrat for the 2024 U.S. Senate seat in Arizona. Gun News reports make it unclear whether this is the same person as Walter Lingfield Jr., as he was not yet 30 years old at the time of the election as required by the Constitution.
He also posed for photos with several prominent Democrats, including Sens. Mark Kelly and Amy Klobuchar, and posted the photos to an Instagram account purportedly belonging to him. The Arizona Republic His social media accounts are currently Rubbed.
Lingfield’s father, Walter Lingfield Sr., said his brother recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in political science. Walter Sr. reiterated to the outlet that he “loves” his son and would “withhold judgment until all the facts are known.”
Mail-in ballots for the state’s primary election are scheduled to be sent out next week. Arizona’s primary election is July 30.
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