Walter Lingfield Jr., 27, of Phoenix, who was charged with stealing voting equipment keys from Maricopa County elections headquarters, had a history of theft charges and an apparent interest in running for public office. There is.
Lingfield is being held without bail and is charged with theft and criminal damage. He is accused of stealing security keys from the Maricopa County Tally and Elections Center. Abbreviated as MCTEC, he temporarily worked as a temporary employee.
What do officials say Lingfield stole?
Maricopa County election staff identified the stolen items almost immediately on June 20th.
Surveillance footage viewed the same day showed Lingfield removing a red strap from a desk with two items attached to it. Magnetic security key. It is used as part of the multi-step process required to activate ballot counting machines. The other is a second key that is used to unlock the plastic box that the tallying machine is stacked on top of.
What was Lingfield’s job at the county election headquarters?
Lingfield was hired as a temporary worker at the voting and counting center, said Jennifer Liewer, a spokeswoman for the county elections office.
Liewer said Lingfield will be a temporary employee, tasked with “assisting staff with logic and accuracy testing, ensuring tabulation machines are cleaned and cleaned, and may also perform administrative duties.” said.
“There are a variety of duties,” she added, but Lingfield did not have access to areas of election headquarters where he was not supposed to be, adding: “He was assigned to a vote tabulation center.”
What about Lingfield’s other criminal charges?
The alleged theft from MCTEC is not Lingfield’s first run-in with the law.
The Department of Public Safety confirmed Thursday that Lingfield is also under investigation for the theft at the Arizona State Senate earlier this month.
Senate staff reported the incident to DPS on June 19, several days after the theft occurred.
Earlier this week, Senate Republican officials posted to Company X (formerly known as Twitter) security footage of a man, identified by DPS as Lingfield, entering the stairs of the first floor of the Senate, which is restricted to the public.
Lingfield stole challenge coins and other “desk accessories” from the desk of a Senate security guard, according to a DPS statement.
DPS then executed a search warrant at Mr. Lingfield’s home and recovered the stolen items. Lingfield is charged with trespassing, theft and robbery.
Lingfield was also arrested in 2023 for stealing more than $1,000 in cash from a Fry’s grocery store.
Maricopa County election officials said Lingfield’s past criminal history did not come up in a background check because he entered a diversionary program after the Frye incident.
Lingfield is currently being held in jail. According to court documents, he was previously released from prison on a felony charge stemming from a 2023 theft incident and is not eligible for bail.
Was Lingfield a candidate for public office?
County elections staff confirmed that Lingfield also filed paperwork to run for office during this election cycle.
In January 2023, Mr. Lingfield submitted a statement of interest (statement of candidacy) as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate election.
However, Mr. Lingfield did not submit the required signatures to be eligible to vote and was not eligible to run.
To run for the U.S. Senate, a candidate must be at least 30 years old. And Mr. Lingfield is not a registered Democrat. He briefly registered as a Democrat in September 2016, but changed his registration again 11 days later to become an independent.
But Lingfield has expressed interest in the Democratic race. As an independent, Lingfield requested that he vote on the Democratic ballot in the 2020 and 2022 primaries.
Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer initially denied that Lingfield was the same person who filed a statement of interest in the U.S. Senate race. However, he later issued a correction and an apology.
