Former Milwaukee election worker convicted of absentee ballot fraud

No illegal votes were cast, and MPs immediately reported the results to authorities. Shortly afterward, Zapata was fired and charged with a felony count of misconduct in office and three misdemeanor counts of absentee ballot fraud.

A Milwaukee County jury convicted Zapata on Wednesday after hearing two days of testimony. She could face up to five years in prison and a $13,000 fine.

Shortly after being indicted in November 2022, Zapata told The Washington Post that he had reached a “breaking point” due to false claims and threats about the election. He said lawmakers should look into the real problems with the state’s voting system and want to make that point “in the loudest, most high-profile way.”

“I understand that what I did was wrong, and I understand that there must be consequences,” she said in that interview. “But at the same time, I did this for the greater good. I did this to get American voters to believe in our electoral system again.”

She described herself as a floating voter and said she is neither Republican nor Democrat.

Election falsehoods were rampant in Wisconsin after Joe Biden narrowly won the state in 2020. Republican lawmakers hired investigators, consulted with conspiracy theorists, and tried to cancel the state’s 10 electors more than a year after the election. The Republican lawmaker’s lead investigator later acknowledged that it would be “practically impossible” to try to flip back the electoral votes.

Unlike most states, Wisconsin allows military members to vote absentee without providing voter registration or proof of residency. Zapata took issue with the policy and used the state’s website to promote discredited theories about the 2020 election, prompting state Rep. Janelle Blancchen (R), who led the Wisconsin Legislature at the time, to use the state’s website to promote discredited theories about the 2020 election. , said he had three ballots sent in with made-up names. Election Committee.

Blancchen issued a written statement this week saying that although he had never spoken to Zapata, he believed he had identified a “serious flaw” in the state’s online system for requesting absentee ballots. . He said he’s concerned that lawmakers and the state election board aren’t doing more about the issue.

Election officials have downplayed the incident and said they would quickly discover instances where large numbers of fake ballots were created. They said the charges against Zapata show that such plans don’t work.

Zapata created the ballot under a false name four months after Harry Waite, a conservative activist in Wisconsin, sent an online request for someone else’s ballot to be mailed to his home. Waite, who was charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors, said he is trying to expose what he believes are flaws in the way the state allows voters to request absentee ballots.