Jury Finds Former Milwaukee Election Official Guilty of 2022 Voter Fraud

A former Milwaukee election official accused of obtaining fake absentee ballots has been found guilty of misconduct in office and fraud by a Milwaukee County Circuit Court jury. According to prosecutors, Kimberly Zapata was deputy director at the Milwaukee Election Commission in October 2022. She allegedly obtained three military absentee ballots using fake names and Social Security numbers. Two weeks before the state’s gubernatorial and legislative elections, she sent the ballots to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. Ms. Zapata was originally charged in November 2022 with felony misconduct in office and three misdemeanor counts of election fraud. Under Wisconsin law, active military personnel don’t need to register before voting, or provide photo identification when applying for an absentee ballot. According to the court complaint, any request made by someone in the military automatically results in a ballot being issued....