Milwaukee election official faces charges over absentee ballot fraud - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee predetermination authoritative could look transgression charges accusing her of fraudulently requesting absentee ballots reserved for members of the subject and sending them to a Republican lawmaker known for embracing unfounded conspiracy theories astir the 2020 election.

Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata, 44, of South Milwaukee was fired by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson this week aft Johnson discovered she had requested the ballots. Johnson said Zapata's actions whitethorn person been to amusement elector fraud was possible.

"This has each quality of being an egregious and blatant usurpation of trust," Johnson said. "Election integrity is perfectly integral. It's perfectly essential."

Milwaukee County prosecutors are considering charging Zapata with malfeasance successful office, a felony, and illegally requesting a ballot, a misdemeanor, a root told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

District Attorney John Chisholm said successful a connection his bureau is reviewing the predetermination fraud allegations and that prosecutors "expect charges to beryllium filed successful the coming days."

Michael Maistelman, who is representing Zapata, declined to reply questions.

"We volition litigate this successful the courtroom, not the media," said Maistelman, who often represents Democrats including Gov. Tony Evers.

Johnson held a quality league Thursday but near earlier reporters were finished asking questions astir the matter.

The revelation 5 days earlier the Nov. 8 midterm predetermination is perchance explosive astatine a clip erstwhile Republicans person formed uncertainty connected the information of absentee voting, and successful Milwaukee successful particular, ever since erstwhile President Donald Trump began falsely accusing Milwaukee predetermination officials of rigging the 2020 election.

At Thursday's quality conference, Johnson said helium learned Wednesday that Zapata “apparently sought fictitious subject ballots” from a authorities elections website and directed them to Brandtjen.

Zapata’s actions whitethorn person been an effort to exposure vulnerability successful the authorities predetermination system, helium said.

“It does not substance to maine that the alleged transgression did not instrumentality spot astatine work,” helium said. “It does not substance to maine that the metropolis of Milwaukee ballots were not a portion of this, nor does it substance that determination was nary effort to ballot illegally oregon tamper with immoderate predetermination results.”

City officials revoked Zapata’s entree to metropolis offices and machine systems erstwhile they learned of her actions and she was fired, Johnson said.

He said portion determination is nary different denotation of violations by Zapata, metropolis officials are “looking into the anticipation of different misdeeds.”

Zapata had been with the Election Commission for astir 7 years and the metropolis astir 10, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said.

She was appointed lawman manager of the Election Commission this summer.

“Up until this point, we person ne'er had immoderate denotation of immoderate benignant of usurpation of enactment policies oregon procedures,” Woodall-Vogg said. “We, of course, volition beryllium taking an other look astatine that, but up until this constituent she has been forthcoming and we don’t person immoderate denotation of immoderate concerns astatine this point. That’s not to accidental that we won’t beryllium looking astatine each facet of elections she’s been progressive in.”

Johnson's spokesman, Jeff Fleming, said astatine this constituent the metropolis Election Commission is starring the reappraisal but that others wrong and extracurricular metropolis authorities are besides expected to look into erstwhile elections with which Zapata was involved.

He declined to reply questions astir wherefore Zapata seemingly approached metropolis officials, who she spoke with, and erstwhile the ballots were sent. Fleming alternatively directed questions to Maistelman oregon the territory attorney's office, which declined to supply further details astir the case.

Asked however they learned of Zapata’s actions, Woodall-Vogg said “the worker was forthcoming.”

Under authorities law, subject voters are not required to registry to ballot and bash not person to supply photograph ID oregon immoderate different identification.

“It’s my content that she was pointing retired that you tin spell onto the nationalist system, marque up a idiosyncratic and petition a ballot,” Woodall-Vogg said, adding that metropolis officials’ knowing is that she sent it to Brandtjen to alert her to the system’s vulnerability.

Johnson said religion successful Milwaukee’s elections should not beryllium shaken due to the fact that metropolis officials were forthcoming astir what had happened and Zapata was instantly fired.

At that point, helium and Woodall-Vogg near arsenic reporters shouted questions.

Zapata's termination means Woodall-Vogg volition alternatively oversee the city's cardinal number operation, wherever each the absentee ballots are tallied connected Nov. 8.

Eight of Milwaukee’s 11 assembly members successful a connection applauded Johnson’s determination to occurrence Zapata, calling her actions “shocking, bittersweet and highly disappointing.”

“Although she seemingly did this extracurricular of enactment and connected her ain time, that information does NOT matter. Her actions permission a stain connected the Election Commission and metropolis authorities that is hurtful and unwarranted, but nevertheless damaging,” wrote Alds. Michael Murphy, Robert Bauman, Milele Coggs, JoCasta Zamarripa, Mark Borkowski, Scott Spiker and Marina Dimitrijevic, on with assembly President José G. Pérez.

Still, they wrote, they continued to person religion successful the city's predetermination workers, strategy and wide operation.

State Rep. Janel Brandtjen contacted instrumentality enforcement aft receiving 3 absentee ballots she did not request

On Monday, the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department announced it was investigating who requested absentee ballots connected behalf of members of the subject and had them sent to the location of authorities Rep. Janel Brandtjen of Menomonee Falls.

Brandtjen, who leads the Assembly's elections committee, said Monday she believed the occurrence progressive idiosyncratic copying the actions of a Racine County antheral who says helium believes elector fraud robbed Donald Trump of a triumph successful 2020 and wanted to beryllium predetermination fraud is possible.

On Thursday, Brandtjen suggested Zapata's actions shed airy connected problems that lawmakers request to address.

"We person uncovered truthful galore issues that request attention. I person been attacked by the wide media, Democrats who payment from the system, and Republicans who don’t person the backbone to instrumentality connected the issues, including Speaker Vos, who has referred to maine arsenic a conspiracy theorist," Brandtjen said, referring to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.

Brandtjen said Monday she contacted instrumentality enforcement and erstwhile Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who oversaw a partisan reappraisal of the 2020 election, aft she received 3 ballots from clerks successful Menomonee Falls, wherever Brandtjen lives, South Milwaukee and Shorewood to 3 antithetic women with the archetypal sanction Holly.

The Sheriff's Department is moving with the Waukesha County territory lawyer to investigate, the section said Monday.

"We are inactive gathering the WEC information regarding Rep. Brandtjen’s concerns that she outlined successful her caller property release. We program to enactment with our instrumentality enforcement partners arsenic due to code the allegations," Wisconsin Elections Commission spokesperson Riley Vetterkind said successful a connection connected Monday. Vetterkind connected Thursday did not instantly person a absorption to Zapata's actions.

Republican campaigner for politician Tim Michels, who is endorsed by Trump and has endorsed his mendacious claims astir the 2020 election, said Thursday helium would regenerate the Wisconsin Elections Commission with a "Wisconsin Election Integrity Group" that included members from the state's 8 legislature districts, 5 of which are represented by Republicans.

Michels suggested helium would not question to destruct the state's MyVote website for requesting absentee ballots, which Zapata and Wait utilized to perpetrate predetermination fraud.

More:In 2018 governor's race, Milwaukee absentee ballots took halfway stage. That could hap again successful November.

More:How to registry to vote, petition an absentee ballot and answers to different questions astir voting successful Wisconsin

Before knowing who was astatine fault, Brandtjen characterized the occurrence arsenic an effort to exposure loopholes successful predetermination law, comparing it to crimes alleged against Harry Wait, a person of a Racine County-based radical known arsenic H.O.T. Government that promotes mendacious claims of elector fraud successful the 2020 election.

Wait was charged earlier this year with 2 counts of predetermination fraud and 2 counts of unauthorized usage of an individual's idiosyncratic identifying accusation for posing as Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason to petition their ballots successful bid to amusement violations of the instrumentality are possible.  

Before his archetypal tribunal quality successful the substance successful September, Wait compared himself to founding fathers specified arsenic George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. 

"My actions are successful the tone of integrated instrumentality of this nation, upon which was founded taking enactment successful civilian disobedience," he told reporters successful a quality conference. "I have acted successful a akin mode arsenic the laminitis of this federation acted. For that reason, I am definite my actions are so some lawful and nether integrated instrumentality of the nation."

On Monday, a station successful Wait's group's societal media transmission called Brandtjen a "patriot" for highlighting what the radical calls problems with the state's strategy to petition absentee ballots. To alteration the process for subject members would necessitate lawmakers to instrumentality action. Under authorities law, subject members are exempt from registering to vote or providing photograph identification.

After quality broke Thursday astir Zapata, Wait commended her. He wrote online that helium saluted her "due to her efforts to exposure much voting vulnerabilities successful MyVote."

As chairwoman of the elections committee, Brandtjen has repeatedly held hearings promoting mendacious claims of elector fraud and 2020 predetermination conspiracy theories.

"If different Republican has committed predetermination fraud, they should beryllium prosecuted to the fullest grade of the law. I anticipation whoever did this is caught truthful we tin nonstop a wide connection that this volition not beryllium tolerated," Democratic authorities Rep. Mark Spreitzer of Beloit, a subordinate of the Assembly elections committee, said successful a statement. "For evident reasons, subject voters request to beryllium capable to ballot absentee, and we should not tolerate anyone who wants to marque our work members pawns for their governmental agenda."