Maricopa County assures voters elections are secure following tabulator key theft

Maricopa County has been scrambling this week to assure voters that its election systems are secure after a temporary worker stole an electronic tabulator key from the county’s Tabulation and Election Center on June 20. The temporary worker accused of taking the key, Walter Ringfield Jr., 27, was arrested the following day, after police found the key when searching his residence, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said. He went on to accuse Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, a Republican, of wanting to “kill” the story about the stolen key, and accused Richer of creating this situation as a “deepfake.” “Is this a setup to convince courts that our elections need more secrecy?” Blehm posted on X. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley issued a statement on Tuesday saying that the RNC and the Arizona Republican Party sent attorneys and observers to MCTEC to “gather information and promote transparency” in regards to the theft. “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.” Ringfield was briefly registered to vote in Maricopa County as a Democrat for 11 days in 2016, but has otherwise been an independent since first registering to vote in the county in 2015 when he was 19 years old, according to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office.