As a result of the alleged theft, Maricopa County must now reprogram and retest all of its security keys before the July 30 election to the tune of over $20,000, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. Supervisor Gates said, "You can't put a price on Democracy" in response to questions about the cost of restoring security for the July 30 election. According to reporting by Fifield, Maricopa County has hired more than 530 temporary election workers in addition to more than 2,200 poll workers for the upcoming election. The County is scrambling because Mail ballots go out on July 3.
According to Caroline Wren, it is unclear why Ringfield was in the building. He allegedly said he was there to see Senator Juan Mendez, the same man who "walks around the Capitol with a Palestine scarf." Wren alleges Ringfield's social media was immediately scrubbed. Much of what Wren has found on Ringfield indicates he is closely aligned with Democrats and Democrat operatives and NGOs. Ringfield's LinkedIn account showed he volunteered for an Open Society Foundation NGO called Our Voice Our Vote in Arizona. It is a voter registration and GOTV operation. The odd thing is when the news of his arrest first came out, there were "numerous Left-leaning accounts implying Ringfield was a MAGA Trump supporter" just because he has a Truth Social account.
On June 25, authorities and Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates held a press conference on the "great work done by Maricopa County election employees" who noticed the fob was missing. They identified the suspect and relayed the information to local law enforcement. The Maricopa County Sheriff's office stated that the incident was "not your usual theft." Gates said that the theft of the fob has "not affected election security in any way." Gates said Maricopa County does perform criminal background checks on all employees and found nothing on Ringfield.
Since his arrest, more information has come out on Ringfield. He is allegedly under investigation for a theft committed in the State Senate, according to Senate Republicans who released security footage of the alleged suspect in the building. Ringfield may have taken "personal items from a Senate employee." While some reported Ringfield was an employee of the Senate, Senate Republicans assert he has never been an employee. However, when confronted, he allegedly told others he was an intern for Senator Juan Mendez.
