diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ca26bd0f..ae281a68 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 6.20.11 - Nov 7, 2024
+
+* Events import: ignore deleted events when matching incoming events to existing.
+
 ## 6.20.10 - Nov 7, 2024
 
 * Add additional log info re: archiving scrape files to cloud storage
diff --git a/openstates/importers/events.py b/openstates/importers/events.py
index 90165a08..e59acae8 100644
--- a/openstates/importers/events.py
+++ b/openstates/importers/events.py
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ def get_object(self, event: _JsonDict) -> Event:
                 "start_date": event["start_date"],
                 "end_date": event["end_date"],
                 "jurisdiction_id": self.jurisdiction_id,
+                "deleted": False,  # no need to match existing deleted events if this is new/incoming
             }
         return self.model_class.objects.get(**spec)
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 821f34fc..7f5571f4 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "openstates"
-version = "6.20.10"
+version = "6.20.11"
 description = "core infrastructure for the openstates project"
 authors = ["James Turk <dev@jamesturk.net>"]
 license = "MIT"