Maricopa accused of tampering with voting machines again as video depicts after-hours ‘shenanigans’

The footage was published by We the People USA Alliance on X on Friday and reportedly shows activity inside the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center at approximately 10:30 pm on Wednesday, October 7. The group alleged that two county employees returned to the facility after leaving earlier in the evening and inserted flash drives into computers.

“BUSTED: Exclusive Video of Maricopa County BOS employees (toddler in tow) in highly secure Ballot Tabulation Center at 10:30pm inserting flash drives into computers (Post L&A) during an active election obtained by our source!” the group wrote.

The organization also claimed that one of the employees involved had previously been associated with allegations concerning the deletion of election-related files following the 2020 election.

Maricopa County pushed back against allegations of misconduct, saying the employees were performing routine election work.

“As occurs in the weeks preceding an election, these employees were working on a legitimate election task, late into the night,” the county said in a statement. “These photos may be used on social media to imply wrongdoing. This is not the case. Know the facts, so you can vote confidently.”

Shelby Busch, co-founder of We the People Alliance, criticized the county’s response. She told The Gateway Pundit: “There are two flaws with the Maricopa County Election Department’s statement of transparency. First, they fail to disclose to the public what this ‘legitimate election task’ was that required occurring late into the night, and second, they indicate this can be viewed 24/7 by the public; however, the feed published by WTP USA does not appear to be part of the public feeds.”

“We do not presume to know what was on those flash drives, but what we do know is that secure computers were unlocked and external devices were inserted into highly sensitive systems late at night and without any public oversight. Additional video footage we obtained also raises heavy concern over the chain of custody of the external flash drive,” she added.

In response to the incident, Kari Lake, who lost hotly contested races as the Republican nomineein Arizona's most recent gubernatorial and senatorial elections,weighed in, claiming the activity was evidence of “shenanigans.”

“More shenanigans at the Maricopa county ballot tabulation center. Only through God’s intervention was this even discovered. This happened Wednesday night at 10:30 pm,” Lake wrote, reposting the video.

In 2022, Maricopa County experienced ballot-printing problems that prevented tabulators at some polling places from reading certain ballots on Election Day.

After Lake challenged the results of her 2022 defeat against Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona’s gubernatorial race, Maricopa County acknowledged installing “new memory cards on its Election Day tabulators” on October 14, 17, and 18, after logic and accuracy testing had taken place on October 11. Lake’s legal team argued that the post-testing changes raised concerns about compliance with election procedures, while the county said the cards contained the certified election program.

A forensic audit of the county's 2020 election that was mandated by the state Senate found substantial evidence of irregularities in mail-in ballots while also faulting Maricopa officials for obstructing their review of the electronic records. Its report ultimately comcluded that there were no actionable measures to be taken despite the likelihood of abuses.