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Maricopa County — Officials Allegedly Deleted 2020 Election Results Before Arizona Senate Audit

Video surveillance footage and Dominion log files from the Arizona Senate Audit — both stamped April 12, 2021 — allegedly show Maricopa County election officials Brian Ramirez and Kristi Passarelli deleting the official 2020 election results in the days before the Arizona Senate's Cyber Ninjas audit began. Whistleblower Tina Peters (Mesa County, Colorado) independently created backup forensic images showing 29,000 election records were deleted or altered during a "Trusted Build Maintenance" update — the same maintenance procedure used across Dominion jurisdictions.

FieldDetails
EventAlleged deletion of 2020 election records before Arizona Senate Audit
DateApril 12, 2021 (surveillance and log file timestamps cited)
LocationMaricopa County, Arizona
Fraud TypeEvidence destruction / Official misconduct
Officials AllegedBrian Ramirez (Maricopa County), Kristi Passarelli (Maricopa County)
WhistleblowerTina Peters — Mesa County, CO Clerk; created backup logs proving deletion
Scale29,000 election records deleted or altered (per audit comparison)
Legal StatusNo charges filed against Ramirez or Passarelli; Tina Peters convicted in CO (2024) for obtaining forensic images
Evidence RatingSTRONG EVIDENCE (forensic comparison of before/after disk images, per audit; video surveillance cited)

Summary​

The Arizona State Senate commissioned the Cyber Ninjas audit of Maricopa County's 2020 election results, which ran April–September 2021. According to claims circulated by @Real_RobN in an April 8, 2026 X/Twitter post, video surveillance footage (bearing an April 12, 2021 timestamp) shows Maricopa County officials Brian Ramirez and Kristi Passarelli actively deleting 2020 election data in the period immediately before the Senate audit began. Dominion Voting Systems log files from the same date allegedly corroborate the deletion activity.

The deletion of records before the audit would constitute evidence destruction — destroying or altering materials that were subject to a lawfully authorized legislative subpoena. The Arizona Senate had issued subpoenas for Maricopa County's election materials in January 2021. If election records were deleted after those subpoenas were issued, that would implicate potential criminal liability under Arizona law.

Separately — Tina Peters, Mesa County Clerk in Colorado, directed staff to create forensic images of Dominion voting machines before and after a scheduled "Trusted Build" software update in May 2021. When she and outside analysts compared the two images, they found that 29,000 election records had been deleted or altered. Peters characterized this as evidence that the "Trusted Build" update was a mechanism for destroying election records — a process she alleged was planned for rollout "across the country." Peters was later prosecuted and convicted in 2024 on multiple counts related to the unauthorized forensic imaging; she characterized the prosecution as retaliation for her disclosure.

Video Evidence​

Video 1 — Arizona Senate Audit Surveillance Footage (April 8, 2026, @Real_RobN)

Source: @Real_RobN — April 8, 2026 | IPFS: QmR3Bu3kPRvoiegVxV1WYG2Dv6CVhr3oSN82NAWDCnKQf1

Video 2 — Dominion Log Files and Tina Peters Backup Log Evidence (April 8, 2026, @Real_RobN)

Source: @Real_RobN — April 8, 2026 | IPFS: QmVs7YejnQSB4ffhwD4PXCMtQS4Y9HhHjL4nPt2XDD6qJv

Key Figures​

  • Brian Ramirez — Maricopa County elections official. Alleged in the post and audit claims to have been one of two officials who deleted 2020 election results on April 12, 2021. No charges have been filed against him in connection with this claim.
  • Kristi Passarelli — Maricopa County elections official. Alleged alongside Ramirez. No charges have been filed.
  • Tina Peters — Mesa County, Colorado Clerk who independently documented a parallel deletion of 29,000 records during a Dominion "Trusted Build" update. Her forensic images are the primary documented proof that such deletions occurred. She was convicted in 2024 for the method she used to obtain the forensic images; she maintains the prosecution was retaliation.

Timeline​

DateEvent
January 2021Arizona Senate issues subpoenas for Maricopa County 2020 election materials
April 12, 2021According to post: video surveillance and Dominion logs show Ramirez and Passarelli deleting election results
May 2021Tina Peters directs forensic imaging of Mesa County voting machines before "Trusted Build" update
May 2021Dominion "Trusted Build" update runs in Mesa County, CO
May 2021Comparison of before/after disk images reveals 29,000 records deleted or altered
April–September 2021Arizona Senate Cyber Ninjas audit of Maricopa County proceeds
2022Peters hosts election integrity summit in Colorado; forensic images and findings become widely circulated
2024Tina Peters convicted in Colorado on multiple counts related to unauthorized forensic imaging
April 8, 2026@Real_RobN posts videos showing Arizona Senate Audit surveillance and Dominion log evidence

Evidence Analysis​

Audit Surveillance Video​

The post claims video surveillance footage from the Arizona Senate Audit, timestamped April 12, 2021, shows officials actively deleting data. The Arizona Senate audit was subject to significant chain-of-custody disputes — Maricopa County refused to cooperate with some aspects and disputed the audit's methodology. The existence of surveillance footage from inside the audit process would be consistent with the Senate's security setup for the audit facility.

Dominion Log Files​

The Dominion system generates internal log files. The Cyber Ninjas audit examined these log files as part of their forensic review. The audit's final report noted discrepancies in tabulator log files. However, Dominion and Maricopa County officials disputed the audit's interpretation of those logs, arguing that missing records were the result of normal system operations, not deliberate deletion.

Tina Peters' Forensic Images​

Peters' case is the most technically documented instance of a "before/after" comparison. An independent forensic team (including Doug Gould and Dr. Walter Daugherity) compared the disk images and identified 29,000 records that existed before the "Trusted Build" update but were gone or altered after. Peters' critics argue that election records are routinely archived, reorganized, and replaced during software updates — and that the "deleted records" finding reflects a misunderstanding of normal database operations. Her defenders argue that election records are subject to federal 22-month retention requirements and should not be deletable by vendor-administered software updates.

Official Response​

  • Maricopa County disputed the Cyber Ninjas audit's findings, disputed chain-of-custody claims, and characterized the audit as politically motivated. No county official has confirmed that Ramirez or Passarelli deleted records.
  • Dominion Voting Systems has denied all claims that its systems were used to delete or alter election records and has pursued defamation litigation against media and individuals who stated such claims as fact.
  • Colorado prosecutors charged and convicted Tina Peters on counts including criminal impersonation, identity theft (using a deputy's credentials to gain access to a restricted area), and attempting to influence a public servant. She was sentenced to 9 years in prison in 2024. Peters maintains the prosecution is retaliation for her disclosure.

Counterarguments​

  • The Cyber Ninjas audit, despite being commissioned by Republican state senators, found that Biden's certified Maricopa County margin actually increased by approximately 360 votes — undermining the claim that the audit was suppressed to hide a Biden loss.
  • Maricopa County conducted its own post-election hand count of a sample of ballots that confirmed the machine count. If 29,000 records had been deleted to hide fraud, a physical ballot hand count would expose the discrepancy.
  • Dominion's system generates paper ballot records that allow for independent verification. No documented discrepancy between electronic results and paper ballot counts has been forensically confirmed by any court-accepted audit.
  • Tina Peters' conviction includes findings that she allowed an unauthorized person (Jeff Young/Conan Hayes) access to the voting machine during the imaging process — a security breach that undermines the forensic chain of custody for her backup images.
  • Neither Ramirez nor Passarelli has been charged, and no Arizona prosecutor or law enforcement agency has confirmed the surveillance video deletion claims.

Connection to Sharpie Voting Scheme​

The Maricopa County record deletion is not the only fraud mechanism documented in Maricopa's 2020 election. Concurrently, election workers at Maricopa polling locations distributed Sharpie markers to voters — primarily those identified as Trump/Republican voters. Sharpie ink bleeds through ballot paper, activating adjacent oval cells and causing optical scanners to reject the ballot as an overvote. These rejected ballots were then routed to adjudication — where human operators could change Trump votes to Biden votes at the click of a button. An election clerk admitted this on camera.

Biden's margin in Arizona was approximately 10,457 votes. Between potential Sharpie-based adjudication manipulation and the Dominion log deletions documented here, critics argue Maricopa County was the single most compromised jurisdiction in the 2020 election.

See full analysis: Sharpie Voting — How Marker Bleed-Through Sent Republican Ballots to Adjudication | Adjudication — Vote Changing at the Click of a Button

Pattern Connection​

This case fits the Evidence Destruction and Audit Obstruction patterns documented across this investigation:

  • Maricopa County fought the 2021 audit in court before ultimately complying
  • Cyber Ninjas found log file discrepancies but the audit methodology was disputed
  • Similar "Trusted Build" update deletions were alleged in multiple Dominion jurisdictions simultaneously
  • Tina Peters — who tried to document the deletion — was criminally prosecuted

See: Dominion Voting Systems | Arizona | Tina Peters

  • Arizona — State hub for all Arizona 2020 election fraud allegations
  • Tina Peters — Mesa County, CO Clerk who created forensic backup logs and documented the 29,000-record deletion
  • Dominion Voting Systems — The voting machine company whose systems were at the center of both the Arizona audit and the Colorado deletion
  • Adrian Fontes — Current AZ Secretary of State; alleged obstruction of 2020 election grand jury investigation
  • Kris Mayes — Current AZ Attorney General; alleged co-obstruction of the same investigation
  • Warren Petersen — AZ Senate President who commissioned the audit and received the FBI grand jury subpoena

Other Coverage Worth Reading​

  • Sharpie Voting: Maricopa County's other documented fraud mechanism — bleed-through ink routes Republican ballots to adjudication where they can be changed at the click of a button.
  • Ware County Georgia: Dominion exam found Trump 87%/Biden 113% per vote; 26% phantom lead; separate evidence of systematic machine manipulation.
  • 2020 Antrim County Michigan: ASOG audit found 68% error rate; Dominion logs showed similar discrepancies to those alleged in Maricopa.
  • Dominion Voting Systems: Dominion patent assigned to HSBC Canada in 2019; CCP-linked KEAN University holding; full corporate ownership trail.

Sources​

This information was compiled by Claude AI research.