A criminal investigation is underway following allegations of theft of an item by a temporary Maricopa County elections worker, authorities said.

“The stolen item has been recovered but to ensure the integrity of Maricopa County Elections, election workers are reprogramming and re-conducting logic and accuracy testing of all equipment,” county officials stated in a release.

The item suspected of being stolen was from the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center.

On Friday morning, when completing a daily inventory, Maricopa County elections workers identified that the item was taken from the center on Thursday evening, according to the release, which added: “Staff took immediate action to investigate the matter and contacted the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.”

County officials said they could not provide more information Monday morning “due to the on-going criminal investigation of this matter.”

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