(READ) Arizona 2020 election audit allegedly finds deleted data, unsecured ballots, missing chain of custody


The Republican audit of Maricopa County, Arizona 2020 election ballots has already turned up “three serious issues.”

According to a letter from Karen Fann, President of the Arizona State Senate, sent to the Maricopa Board of Supervisors, the county continues to flout valid, legislative subpoenas, refusing to hand over virtual images of routers. The county has also allegedly failed to provide the passwords necessary to access vote tabulation devices for the audit.

“…attorneys for Maricopa County have refused to produce virtual images of routers used in connection with the general election.”

Karen Fann, Arizona Senate President

A second issue flagged by the audit has to do with “anomalies” in chain of custody processes for ballots. The letter says the county has yet to provide chain of custody documentation, bags storing the ballots were not sealed, batch dividers are missing, and ballot boxes were sealed with regular tape rather than tamper evident seals.

The third issue mentioned is the alleged deletion of “the entire ‘Database’ directory from the D drive of the machine ‘EMSPrimary’.” That would mean subpoenaed data has been removed. According to the audit, there is also evidence that the “main database for all election related data for the 2020 General Election has been removed.”

Arizona is one of several important states where Donald Trump enjoyed an initial lead, only to have it disappear as questioned mail-in, dropbox, and absentee votes were counted.

The vast majority of votes cast in Arizona, 2.1 million of nearly 3.4 million ballots, were cast in Maricopa County.

According to the official tally, Biden beat Trump by 10,457 votes, or 0.3 percent. 

Over 70,000 more people voted in Maricopa County in 2020 than in 2016.

Joe Biden is only the second Democrat to win Arizona in 70 years. 

In not turning over the routers, Maricopa County officials have said that providing them would “endanger the lives of law enforcement officers, their operations, or the protected health information and personal data of Maricopa County’s citizens.” The county has also said that producing the internet routers for inspection would cost up to six million dollars.

Read the letter and documentation below.

Maricopa Board of Supervisors 

c/o Chairman Jack Sellers

301 West Jefferson Street, #10 

Phoenix, Arizona 85003

Dear Chairman Sellers:  

I am writing to seek your assistance and cooperation in the resolution of three (3) serious issues that have arisen in the course of the Senate’s ongoing audit of the returns of the November 3, 2020 general election in Maricopa County.

I. Ongoing Non-Compliance with the Legislative Subpoenas

The first issue concerns Maricopa County’s apparent intent to renege on its previous commitment to comply fully with the legislative subpoenas issued on January 13, 2021, which, as you know, Judge Thomason found were valid and enforceable.  

To date, attorneys for Maricopa County have refused to produce virtual images of routers used in connection with the general election, relying on a conclusory and unsupported assertion that providing the routers would somehow “endanger the lives of law enforcement officers, their operations, or the protected health information and personal data of Maricopa County’s citizens.”  If true, the fact that Maricopa County stores on its routers substantial quantities of citizens’ and employees’ highly sensitive personal information is an alarming indictment of the County’s lax data security practices, rather than of the legislative subpoenas.  Similarly, the County’s assertion that producing the internet routers for inspection would cost up to $6,000,000 seems at odds with Deputy County Attorney Joseph La Rue’s prior representation to Audit Liaison Ken Bennett that the routers already had been disconnected from the County’s network and were prepared for imminent delivery to the Senate.  

Nevertheless, in an effort to resolve the dispute regarding production of the routers, we propose that agents of CyFIR, an experienced digital forensics firm and subcontractor of Cyber Ninjas, review virtual images of the relevant routers in Maricopa County facilities and in the presence of representatives of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.  Such an arrangement would permit Maricopa County to retain custody and monitor the review of router data, while ensuring that the Senate may access the information it requires—and to which it is constitutionally entitled—to successfully complete its audit.  The Senate has no interest in viewing or taking possession of any information that is unrelated to the administration of the 2020 general election.  

Separately, Maricopa County has refused to provide the passwords necessary to access vote tabulation devices.  Its attorneys’ insistence that the County does not have custody or control of this information is belied by the County’s conduct of its own audits, which, if they were as comprehensive as they purported to be, almost certainly would have entailed use of the passwords to examine the tabulation devices, and it strains credulity to posit that the County has no contractual right to obtain (i.e., control of) password information from Dominion. 

II. Chain of Custody and Ballot Organization Anomalies

As the audit has progressed, the Senate’s contractors have become aware of apparent omissions, inconsistencies, and anomalies relating to Maricopa County’s handling, organization, and storage of ballots.  We hope you can assist us in understanding these issues, including specifically the following:

  1. The County has not provided any chain-of-custody documentation for the ballots.  Does such documentation exist, and if so, will it be produced?
  2. The bags in which the ballots were stored are not sealed, although the audit team has found at the bottom of many boxes cut seals of the type that would have sealed a ballot bag. Why were these seals placed at the bottom of the boxes? 
  3. Batches within a box are frequently separated by only a divider without any indication of the corresponding batch numbers.  In some cases, the batch dividers are missing altogether.  This lack of organization has significantly complicated and delayed the audit team’s ballot processing efforts.  What are the County’s procedures for sorting, organizing, and packaging ballot batches?  
  4. Most of the ballot boxes were sealed merely with regular tape and not secured by any kind of tamper-evident seal.  Is that the County’s customary practice for storing ballots?  
  5. The audit team has encountered a significant number of instances in which there is a disparity between the actual number of ballots contained in a batch and the total denoted on the pink report slip accompanying the batch.  In most of these instances, the total on the pink report slip is greater than the number of ballots in the batch, although there are a few instances in which the total is lower.  What are the reasons for these discrepancies?  For your reference, please see several illustrative (i.e., not comprehensive) examples in the table below:
PalletBallot TypeBatchPink Slip TotalActual TotalDiscrepancy
5EV2104200198-2
5EV9276200165-35
15EV9278200187-13
15EV164320021818
7EV6359197187-10

For your convenience, images of the corresponding pink report slips are attached in Exhibit A.

III. Deleted Databases

We have recently discovered that the entire “Database” directory from the D drive of the machine “EMSPrimary” has been deleted. This removes election related details that appear to have been covered by the subpoena. In addition, the main database for the Election Management System (EMS) Software, “Results Tally and Reporting,” is not located anywhere on the EMSPrimary machine, even though all of the EMS Clients reference that machine as the location of the database. This suggests that the main database for all election related data for the November 2020 General Election has been removed.  Can you please advise as to why these folders were deleted, and whether there are any backups that may contain the deleted folders?

The image below shows the location of the files known to be deleted. In addition, the main database for “Results Tally and Reporting” is not present.

* * *

I am hopeful that we can constructively resolve these issues and questions without recourse to additional subpoenas or other compulsory process.  To that end, I invite you and any other officers or employees of Maricopa County (to include officials in the Elections Department) who possess knowledge or information concerning the matters set forth above to a meeting at the Arizona State Capitol on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. in Hearing Room 109.  Chairman Petersen, former Secretary Bennett and I will attend the meeting, which will be live-streamed to the public.  

Please let me know at your earliest convenience whether you accept my invitation and, if so, which Maricopa County personnel will attend.  

Thank you for your cooperation on these important issues of public concern.  

Respectfully,

Karen Fann, President

Arizona State Senate


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68 thoughts on “(READ) Arizona 2020 election audit allegedly finds deleted data, unsecured ballots, missing chain of custody”

  1. Thank you, Ms. Attkisson, for your forthright and fearless reporting, no quotes around “journalist” as far as you are concerned. What is being uncovered will either be acknowledged by our nation or we will no longer be a nation.

    1. JOHN WEDGWOOD GOLDEN

      The Democrat Party is the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE ! They stole our National Election ! Millions of Americans watched it happen on TV ! The Supreme Court sold out our REPUBLIC to the MARXISTS ! Nothing is ever going to be done about this issue ! AMERICA IS OVER ! The sooner Americans realize this ? The quicker we can take our Nation back !

        1. That may be. The establishment Republicans are doing no favors for the people. However, it is the democrats who are trying to shut down the audit of any and all ballots or election processes. Why? Because the truth will come out and Biden did not win! Statistically, it is obvious cheating occurred.

    2. It strains credibiliy to realize that “We the People” cannot find Accountability and Justice anywhere in our federal, state, and county governments. Nor in our judicial system. The Supreme Court’s abdication of their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is heartbreaking. I wrote to each of the 9 justices, pleading with them to accept the fraud cases. The final arbiter of Justice and Truth failed not only our nation but also the world. The only conclusion, corruption or fear of the mob. I had naive belief there was no way they could refuse. When they determined that 18 States had no standing,
      It was a betrayal of our democracy; betrayal of the patriots that fought to create this nation; that put their lifes, family, home, and future on the line. Where can we go when the very top of our federal government in all 3 branches are corrupt?
      Corruption so deep, that laws are completely ignored. Indisputable evidence of fraud witnessed by our whole country. Over 1000 sworn affidavits, thousands more witnessing rampant fraud. I myself received an unknown person’s ballot in the mail.. Just that scenario being repeated millions of times tells the truth of mail in ballots, Fraud in so many ways.
      We see the results in less than 5 months of a party that do not give a damn about this nation. That flagrantly censor, lie knowing we known they are lying. The hell that is set in motion, a nation without a Southern border is coming. We naive Americans are ripe for the harvest. I do not believe our nation will stand without something horribly occurring before the 22 election.
      I support Sydney Powell, in every way possible. Donations, prayers. We need leaders to find their voice, Whatever talent they have and use it, It is almost too late.

      1. Excellent letter, Hope. Thank you for the letters you sent to each of the nine SC Justices. I have no doubt many American citizens are grateful to you for the initiative you took, and appreciate the other meaningful actions you are taking. Blessings and strength to you.

      2. SCOTUS isn’t “The final arbiter of Justice and Truth”.. If SCOTUS decided the 2nd was null, would you surrender all weapons to the nation-State?

  2. Thank you Sharyl for reporting FACTS not OPINION, that’s why I trust you as the most honest Journalist in the Country

    1. Thank you Sharyl for reporting FACTS not POLITICAL AGENDA. You were also a victim of the same cabal. Your “crime”–doing your job and researching the facts. For that, the “powers that be, government, of course, and most likely “intelligence agencies (now there’s a real contradiction of terms and undoubtedly a term which bears no semblance to the true meaning of the word) broke into your computer without a warrant, without notifying you, made changes in your computer and then denied any and all guilt. These are the same members of the IC who saw nothing wrong with fabricating “evidence” in order to obtain secret warrants against people that they KNEW were innocent of the very things that they told judges that these IC members needed to spy on patriotic Americans. The level of corruption in the government goes far beyond this stolen election. It goes far beyond the comprehensible in a supposed democratic (little d emphasized–big D is comprehensible in this day and age) government that this type of intrusive invasion of personal freedom would be possible in the United States but is much more indicative of the Chinese Communists, Russian Marxists or Hitler’s Germany!

  3. Thank you Ms. Attkisson for continuing to search for the truth! Would you check with your technical team? The pictures in this article aren’t loading.

  4. thanks hard to get info on this ALREADY WE HAVE MANY IRREGULARITIES that have invalidated other elections….stay tuned

  5. If chain of custody was important, why has the Ninja failed so miserably ensuring chain of custody during their audit.

    To give your article balance, that juxtaposition would have been useful.

    1. You are confused. It wasn’t the ninja that broke the chain of custody, it was the county board supervisors responsible for the management of the election! It was their chain of custody of the ballot tabulations. They were unorganized and seals broken. They mismanaged the Cain of custody. They admitted they don’t even have the passwords with access to this list data? Who did? Who was the administrator behind the dominion machines with control of the “results tally and reporting” tabulations? Where were they located?

    2. OH PLEASE THE RHETORIC IS ABSURD ABOUT THE AUDIT AT THIS POINT ON DAY ONE! THE LEGAL AND RIGHTFULLY RESPONSIBLE THING TO DO WOULD BE TO COMPLY WITH THE AUDIT. THAT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE ELECTION OFFICE PERSONNEL AND THE HOUSE AND SENATE. IF DOMINION WERE IN ANY WAY APPROACHING HONESTY THEY WOULD HAVE DONE SO AS WELL. BUT INSTEAD WE HAVE 100 LAWYERS THE SAME FIRM THAT CREATED THE RUSSIA COLLUSION BY THE WAY! AND THESE CRIMINALS IN OFFICE THAT TOOK DARK MONEY FROM THE STEAL THE ELECTION CREW OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE BREAKING THE LAW, AND SANDBAGGING ON ALL INQUIRIES. THIS IS CORRUPTION., PLAIN AND SIMPLE AND THEY SHOUDL EACH BE INDICTED AND PUT IN PRISON.

    3. Please give your source for your belief that Cyber Ninja failed the chain of custody. Cyber Ninja can only be responsible for the chain of custody of the ballots once in their possession. The issues described are how the ballots were boxed and delivered.

      If we went to bed in 2016 with Hillary leading by the same number of votes, only to wake up and find out that sometime throughout the night enough votes mysteriously came giving the win to Trump by 10,457 votes, or 0.3%, I’ll take the bet that you’d be screaming for a full forensic audit, too.

    4. I think you are lying Dave. The ballots have been under 24 hour video, and in real time. If there is an issue that you have any “facts” to prove, please provide them.
      News reports are NOT facts, try to remember that. when replying.

    1. Is not mute when there’s obviously something wrong when important info has been deleted. There’s evidence in several states with similar problems

  6. Seeking the truth,the whole truth,and nothing but the truth

    If the 2020 local,state,federal and presidential elections were legitimate,why are democrats,Trump hating rinos and their operatives doing everything in their power to stop the audits?Why won’t they allow the audits to be completed without roadblocks?Why won’t they turn over the routers?Why were data bases deleted?Why is chain of custody of ballots missing?If the elections were legitimate,why is Joe Biden’s federal DoJ trying to interfere in state business were they have no business interfering?If these elections were legitimate,the democrats,Trump hating rinos,and their operatives would have no problem giving up the information needed,and Joe Biden’s Federal DoJ wouldn’t be trying to interfere. All the audits are about is making sure the elections were legitimate like the democrats,Trump hating rinos and their operatives say it was.If the elections were legitimate,they would allow the audit to be completed without delays,roadblocks or interference.With all of the shenanigans going on,it make it more suspect that election fraud occurred on a wide scale.If it walks like a duck,and quacks like a duck,it is a duck.

  7. When this audit is over, I expect a lot of county election officials and the secretary of state to be arrested for TREASON and/or SEDITION. This audit has been interfered with by these scum bags. This was not some “mistake”. Karen Fann is giving these scumbags all the rope they need to hang themselves. I, for one, will be looking forward to seeing them hang. They have disenfranchised EVERY voter in this country, not just AZ. They are despicable.

  8. Stanley Werstler

    A total waste of time and money. Sore losers. Take the money and help the poor. How long are we going to listen to the big lie. Mr Trump lies every day. He lost the election. It is certified. He lost all claims of fraud in courts. ITS THE BEGINING OF THE END OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.

    1. Stanley you might be right but I doubt it. I asked my good friend and neighbor, who is the most liberal person I know what has Biden done thus far that has been good for the nation. He thought long and hard and said the Covid-19 relief bill… But he didn’t know what percentage of the money will go to helping Covid-19 in 2021. Do you? Don’t worry about the Republicans. You might be better to worry about loosing the House before the 2022 election through natural turnover and special elections.

    2. Oh Stanley. You sound just like my 88 year old father-in-law who believes the Democrat Party still has the integrity it had when JFK and MLK were around. Sadly, it’s not.

      Besides, government money never “goes to the poor”.

    3. LOL – take the money and help the poor. LOL

      You can give your money to those standing at freeway exits but leave me out of it.
      The list of government programs that take our money to give to their voters is HUGE – they don’t need more. Oh Wait….Biden wants us all to pay for health care for anyone who makes it across the border – or even those who stay in their own countries. Open up your wallet Mr Werstler – you have a lot more dependents than you will ever know – courtesy of the democrats who live off keeping the poor in poverty.

    4. The sore loser precedent has been set by the Dims, ever since Trump legally got elected the first time. Your BS ranting is that of a marxist troll. Byedone is wagging you down his rabid hole. We all know he is mentally ill. What’s your excuse Special K?

    5. JONATHAN C HURLEY

      Blind? Or ignorant..? Really, about the same. Lord Jesus, just open your eyes, leave your pre-conceived notions at home, and just look at it. If you had a business, and experienced all these anomalies this past 2020 national election experienced, you would be screaming to high heaven for something to be done. You would want to know who defrauded you and how. You would want justice. But, you have a blind spot. You are such a dedicated liberal/communist/marxist/socialist/big government/ believer and supporter, you just cannot see the absolute truth that the kind and number of anomalies, and the duplication of these same anomalies across the nation, point to the certainty that the election was a fraud. Now we are trying to find out how the fraud happened, who was responsible for the commission of this fraud and what to do to prevent it. Having been “certified” has no bearing on the issue other than making it apparent that very higher ups were in a vast conspiracy to do what they did. I really hope this didnt cause you to go too far into cognitive dissonance, with smoke coming from your ears as you try to process the theft of a Presidential election, and what that means to the liberty of ALL of us….including you. We MUST have election integrity.

  9. I am reading your book “Slanted” right now. It follows all the commonly accepted tenets of journalism ethics: truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability. It’s a fantastic book; highly recommend you read it. Clearly and concisely exposes the Trump Russia Hoax and explains how the liberal media promotes their “narratives”. Voters need to know that liberals have almost total control of today’s news outlets and are able to influence your viewpoints if you aren’t carefully considering the source. The narrative is being played out now in CA where incompetent Governor Newsom is destroying the CA economy but it’s being ignored by the media. CA voters need to vote YES this October to RECALL Newsom and end his political career.

  10. In IL, during a Discovery audit, none, none of the boxes were sealed snd in fact, they admitted to spending the week prior in organizing the ballots. One of the boxes contained 24 blank ballots, 2 boxes that were Mail In Ballots had NO FOLD LINES, Judge initials apparently covered several townships at once and in Cook county there were 62,000 illegal ballots- to which nothing happened, All swept under the Neo- Democrat regime in IL.

  11. Go get ’em Ms. Fann!

    I sure hope that the Arizona Senate orders 24 hour surveillance of the Maricopa County Supervisors and all Maricopa County elections officers and order them to be prevented from leaving your State.

  12. Thank You Ms Atkinson..have always been a fan of your investigative style…I’ve never seen so much nonsense in my entire life as we’ve been experiencing..which went into full gear when the clintons came to DC. Having grown up there in the 60/70s and discovering the fakery of our government foundation I left the area..But with this now being played out in AZ all I can say to sum it up is these parasites have “more bull-shite than a Christmas Turkey!” Perseverance will prevail.

  13. I think this Arizona audit is like what occurred with Clinton’s emails and destroying hard drives with hammers and nothing was done about it .The same thing will occur here .Durhams report , well i think you already know that’s total crap to when it comes out. When judges look the other way , when investigators look the other way and especially when the FBI is corrupted and allowed lies and false documents to be used then you know the corruption is so bad that the only cure for the system is a total collapse of it .

  14. Thank you for your accurate unbiased reporting on this and all the issues you cover. Your search for the truth and obvious attemot to report it in unbiased, factual, truthful ways is why I and others hold you in the highest regard and esteem. Keep up the good work, please.

  15. Biden said it best. We’re going to create the greatest voter fraud scheme in history. And along with CNN ( the communist news network) , The communist gov. of china , dominion , m.s. (13) n.b.c. , the democrat machine in d.c. ( district of criminals) and big$$$ from the billionaire’s boys club — gates and the other usual suspects — THEY DID .
    Soften the country up with a contrived pandemic, Fauchi and company help spread it with miss information in the beginning. And they talked Trump into a complete “lock Down” — “prison terms”–, with the fear of millions dead.
    Unleased antifa and b.l.m. , with a sudden rash of ” police shootings” and a rush to judgments.
    And just like that a once peaceful and prosperous U.S.A. was destroyed in less than a year.
    Now it comes clear with recent revelations of ” doctor ” Fauchi and dominion corp. — You would think that if all was on the up and up; all parties would want a complete and fair accounting. Then they would be able to say ” We are all conspiracy theorists”. But with all the obstructions they look like conspiracy practitioners.
    A lot of people wanted Trump gone for different reasons. Not even for $$$ — they were making Billions with Trump in there. They — new world order, globalists’, whatever you want to call them — Want total Control and Power. They have all got down on the knees and bowed to satan. ” That’s who they are!
    Do not expect the old “pink shirt” republicans — like, bitch mcconnell , limp dick lyndsey … still waiting for “the Durham report” , they’re all useless. And forget about the ” justice dept.” , it is ” Just Us”. And the ” SSSSUUPREEMM COURT” , it went the way of the dodo bird; with the sudden and strange death of Justus Anthony Scalia . And the “Anti F.B.I.” ? long gone are the days of Fidelity!!!
    It’s up to Us to start pushing the BIG ROCK UP HILL!!!
    I think Trump should have gotten rid of Jeff Sessions and kept General Flynn. And never should he listened to any of the “Dark State” actors that have been planted into our Government by H.W..

  16. How about a New Election. All voters to show up in person. All counters will be from their communities. No government employees. All ballots watermarked. Mail-in ballots must be applied for with proper verification. Let’s do it over and restart the term.

  17. I agree with Rick.. I for one, stayed up on election night, & watched the returns. I saw the same thing Trump saw. He was winning by a landslide. Then everything stopped. And “SUDDENLY” Biden led? DON’T THINK SO !!! FAKE, FAKE, FAKE ! And Anthony Fauci deserves the death penalty for premeditated murder. It’s the Leftist Agenda,you know; to depopulate the earth. Hang ’em!

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