A Milwaukee elections official has been fired after allegedly requesting military ballots for fake voters.
Kimberly Zapata, the deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was terminated from the role after using bogus names to request the ballots and sent them to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, announced Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced on Thursday.
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“I will not accept, I will not tolerate, and I certainly will not defend any misrepresentation by a city official involved in elections. It does not matter that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created. It does not matter that this alleged crime did not take place at work. 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,” Johnson said in a lengthy Twitter thread Thursday.
Brandtjen announced earlier this week that she found the ballots delivered to her on Oct. 27. She also said she believed that someone appeared to be trying to make a point about the military ballot process.
“I believe someone was trying to point out how easy it is to get military ballots in Wisconsin. Registration for military ballots is not required, so a fictitious name and birthdate is all that is required to obtain a military ballot online. Feeling shocked about this situation is an understatement because it demonstrates stolen valor from those who protect this nation. I think it’s sad that people feel they have to break the law to get the attention of the legislature. This is now the second time citizens have tried to point out loopholes in our elections,” Brandtjen said in a statement Monday.
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Wisconsin features two closely watched contests with the Senate race and the gubernatorial face-off.
In the gubernatorial race Tim Michels (R-WI) leads Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) by 0.2 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average, while in the Senate race Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) leads Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D-WI) by 3.2 percentage points in the RCP polling average.
