Top Democrat Found Guilty In Shocking Voter Fraud Scheme

Kimberly Zapata, the former deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was found guilty on all charges related to a ballot fraud scheme involving military absentee ballots. The conviction was handed down by a Milwaukee County jury on Wednesday, following deliberations that began earlier in the day.

Zapata faced accusations of fraudulently requesting military absentee ballots and directing them to the residence of State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls).

In November 2022, Rep. Janel Brandtjen, then chair of the Assembly on Campaigns and Elections, issued an alert on election fraud after receiving three legitimate military ballots at her home, addressed to “Holly,” a non-existent resident. Brandtjen suspected this incident indicated a vote-stealing plot in Wisconsin.

On Monday, Brandtjen alerted law enforcement that someone had sent military ballots in the names of people who don't exist to her home in what Brandtjen believed was an effort to alert her to how easy it is to commit vote fraud using military ballots.

— Dan O'Donnell (@DanODonnellShow) November 3, 2022

Following this Zapata was dismissed for election fraud. Claire Woodall-Vogg, the Commission’s Director, suggested Zapata aimed to highlight the vulnerability in the process for military ballots, which can be issued and mailed without requiring a photo ID or voter registration verification.

WATCH:

Democrats defended Kimberly Zapata, saying her actions wanted to demonstrate the ease of requesting fraudulent ballots.

Milwaukee Elections Commission Director Claire Woodall-Vogg says she believes that Zapata was attempting to point out that military ballots can be requested and sent out without a photo ID or even voter registration through the public https://t.co/D6Nnq5tHWd website.

— Dan O'Donnell (@DanODonnellShow) November 3, 2022

Defense attorney Dan Adams presented Zapata as a whistleblower aiming to demonstrate the system’s imperfections through her actions. Zapata did not take the stand in her own defense. “She was a whistleblower. She was showing with the truth, with an action, an imperfect action but a truthful action of what was going on,” said Adams according to Fox6.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that Zapata’s actions, under the guise of exposing flaws in the election process, actually compounded the problem. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal criticized Zapata’s approach, stating, “She brought to light the situation by lying on these applications. By having these fraudulent ballots issued. That’s not blowing the whistle on the problem, it’s aggravating the problem.”

The investigation into Zapata’s actions began when approximately five to seven of the 300 military absentee ballots received by the Milwaukee Election Commission in 2022 were discovered to be fraudulent.

Claire Woodall, the commission’s executive director, testified about the stringent procedures followed to prevent improper registration of military voters. “She was very adamant about following those procedures and making sure someone wasn’t unintentionally registered as a military voter,” said Woodall.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson reacted to the verdict by stressing the importance of accountability and the integrity of election officials. “I often speak about accountability for wrongdoing. Today, a jury convicted Kimberly Zapata for crimes associated with the procurement of false absentee ballots, and that jury brought accountability for a serious error.”

Mayor Johnson stated, “At the time of Zapata’s removal from the Milwaukee’s Election Commission, I said it does not matter that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created. It does not matter that City of Milwaukee ballots were not part of this. Nor does it matter that there was no attempt to vote illegally or tamper with election results. Fundamentally, the actions were a violation of trust.

He concluded, “At a time when election officials are subjected to false accusations and harassment, it is essential they act with the highest integrity. That is a standard Milwaukee will maintain.”