Milwaukee Election Commission official Kimberly Zapata charged with felony and misdemeanor counts over fraudulent military ballots
Milwaukee County prosecutors on Friday filed criminal charges against a now-fired Milwaukee election official who they say fraudulently requested absentee ballots reserved for members of the military and sent them to a Republican lawmaker known for embracing conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
Former Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata, 45, of Milwaukee was charged with misconduct in public office, a felony, and three misdemeanor counts of making a false statement to obtain an absentee ballot.
If convicted, Zapata faces up to 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the Class I Felony count and six months behind bars and a $1,000 for each of the three misdemeanors, according to the complaint.
Her initial appearance is scheduled for Nov. 28.
Zapata was fired by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson this week after city officials discovered she had requested three military ballots and had them sent to the home of state Rep. Janel Brandtjen of Menomonee Falls.
The criminal complaint filed Friday states that Zapata told investigators she sent the ballots in the names of three fictitious military voters to make a point about the existence of fraud in the voting system — though she said this was not the same situation as people who are involved in conspiracy theories.
The complaint states that she wanted to redirect Brandtjen's focus "away from outrageous conspiracy theories and to something that is actually real."
It also states that "Zapata stated that she felt overwhelmed due to the threats of violence the Election Commission was receiving, in addition to the constant daily harassment and accusations of lying and hiding things. She stated she wanted the truth to come out so that they could focus on the actual problems."
Zapata ― whose duties as deputy included supervising registration and all aspects of absentee ballots ― also said she was trying to highlight flaws in the election system in an attempt to maintain election integrity, which is part of her job.
Military voters are not required to register before voting in an election and do not need to provide proof of identification or residence to request an absentee ballot, the complaint states. Like other voters, military voters can request an absentee ballot using the MyVote.wi.gov website.
Zapata's attorney, Michael Maistelman, could not be reached for comment early Friday.
Her annual salary as deputy was $87,666, according to the city.
What does the complaint say happened
The complaint states that Zapata went on the MyVote website from her home about 5:30 a.m. on Oct. 25 to create the fake voters, submitting three applications under three different names at randomly chosen addresses in Shorewood, South Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls.
She used her city-issued laptop for the applications and found Brandtjen's address in the state voter registration database that is administered by the Wisconsin Elections Commission and is only available to municipal employees. The site can only be accessed using a government-issued device and requires a username, password, PIN and thumbprint verification, the complaint states.
The only authorized use of the site is for official election work.
Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg told investigators that on Monday she had sent Zapata an article about the military ballots being sent to Brandtjen and Zapata denied knowing what it was about. When Woodall-Vogg sent another message with a statement from Brandtjen about the ease of receiving military ballots, Zapata responded, "She has a point," the compliant states.
Then, on Tuesday, Zapata approached Woodall-Vogg and said she had created the fake voters and sent the ballots to Brandtjen to show how easy it is to commit fraud in this manner.
On Thursday, Chisholm said in a statement his office was reviewing the election fraud allegations and that prosecutors "expect charges to be filed in the coming days."
The revelation comes just days before the Nov. 8 midterm election, as Republicans have cast doubt on the security of absentee voting, and in Milwaukee in particular, ever since former President Donald Trump began falsely accusing Milwaukee election officials of rigging the 2020 election.
At a Thursday news conference, Johnson said he learned Wednesday that Zapata "apparently sought fictitious military ballots" from a state elections website and directed them to Brandtjen. Zapata’s actions may have been an effort to expose vulnerability in the state election system, he said.
"It does not matter to me that the alleged crime did not take place at work," he said. "It does not matter to me that the city of Milwaukee ballots were not a part of this, nor does it matter that there was no attempt to vote illegally or tamper with any election results."
Wisconsin Elections Commission responds
Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, denounced Zapata’s actions without naming her Friday.
"While this incident is deeply unfortunate and a violation of trust, it shows that our strong legal and election systems worked as intended to root out this alleged crime," Wolfe said during a teleconference with reporters.
Wolfe said no other ballots were affected by Zapata’s actions.
Wolfe said there hasn’t been a significant bump in military ballots. She said in the 2018 general election, around 2,700 military ballots were requested and about 1,500 were returned to be counted.
For Tuesday’s election, she said 2,747 military ballots have been requested, with 1,400 returned so far.
How did the City of Milwaukee respond
City officials revoked Zapata's access to city offices and computer systems when they learned of her actions and she was fired, Johnson said.
He said while there is no other indication of violations by Zapata, city officials are "looking into the possibility of other misdeeds."
Zapata had been with the Election Commission for about seven years and the city about 10, Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg said.
She was appointed deputy director of the Election Commission this summer.
"Up until this point, we have never had any indication of any type of violation of work policies or procedures," Woodall-Vogg said. "That's not to say that we won't be looking at every aspect of elections she's been involved in."
Johnson's spokesman, Jeff Fleming, said at this point the city Election Commission is leading the review but that others inside and outside city government are also expected to look into previous elections with which Zapata was involved.
He declined to answer questions about why Zapata apparently approached city officials, who she spoke with, and when the ballots were sent. Fleming instead directed questions to Maistelman or the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.
Asked how they learned of Zapata’s actions, Woodall-Vogg said, "The employee was forthcoming."
Under state law, military voters are not required to register to vote and do not have to provide photo ID or any other identification.
"It’s my belief that she was pointing out that you can go onto the public system, make up a person and request a ballot," Woodall-Vogg said, adding that city officials' understanding is that she sent it to Brandtjen to alert her to the system’s vulnerability.
Zapata's termination means Woodall-Vogg will instead oversee the city's central count operation, where all the absentee ballots are tallied on Nov. 8.
Journal Sentinel reporter Bill Glauber contributed to this story.
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee election official Kimberly Zapata charged with felony