‘VIOLATION OF TRUST’

Milwaukee Election Official Charged With Election Fraud

Kimberly Zapata said she wanted to “show how easy it is to commit fraud in this manner,” according to a criminal complaint.

A former Milwaukee election official has been charged with felony misconduct and election fraud for allegedly giving bogus military ballots to a lawmaker pushing debunked election conspiracy theories. The charges against Kimberly Zapata, the former Milwaukee Election Commission's deputy director, come shortly after she was fired this week. Prosecutors say Zapata gave the false military ballots to Republican State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who has called for the decertification of the 2020 election results in Wisconsin. Zapata said she had sent the fake ballots to “show how easy it is to commit fraud in this manner,” according to a criminal complaint cited by the AP. She now could face up to five years in prison if convicted. Meagan Wolfe, the state’s elections commission administrator, called the incident a “deeply unfortunate violation of trust” and stressed that election fraud is actually very rare.