CNN
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A high elections official in Milwaukee has been fired after allegedly acquiring army absentee ballots for pretend voters by means of a state-run web site and sending them to a Republican state lawmaker, Mayor Cavalier Johnson introduced Thursday.
Kimberly Zapata, deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Fee, allegedly requested the army ballots by means of the state’s MyVote Wisconsin web site, Johnson mentioned.
The ballots have been despatched to GOP State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, an outspoken critic of how votes have been tallied throughout the 2020 election, who mentioned in an October 31 assertion that she believes “somebody was attempting to level out how straightforward it’s to get army ballots in Wisconsin.”
Brandtjen’s workplace says the ballots have been discovered on October 27 after which turned over to the Waukesha County sheriff’s workplace, who confirmed her account and mentioned it was working with the Waukesha County district legal professional’s workplace on this investigation.
The Milwaukee County district legal professional’s workplace advised CNN that it expects legal prices to be filed in opposition to Zapata “within the coming days.”
Zapata’s legal professional Michael Maistelman advised CNN: “We’ll litigate this within the courtroom, not the media.”
The absentee ballots despatched to Brandtjen have been addressed to people who don’t seem to exist, in accordance with her assertion, which included photos of the envelopes she obtained.
“The ballots have been all addressed to ‘Holly’ with three completely different final names. None of those people reside, or have resided at her handle, and the Consultant didn’t request the ballots,” her assertion mentioned.
After Brandtjen made inquiries, in accordance with her workplace, she “realized these three ‘Hollys’ most likely don’t exist. In the event that they did, why would they ship ballots to her home? ‘I imagine somebody was attempting to level out how straightforward it’s to get army ballots in Wisconsin.’”
Johnson mentioned there shouldn’t be considerations concerning the election.
“Of us ought to have faith in our elections in Milwaukee as a result of we’re doing this proper now,” Johnson mentioned. “We’re being upfront, we’re being forthcoming concerning the problem we face. If anyone tries to intervene with elections in Milwaukee, they are going to be dealt with appropriately. On this case, this explicit particular person was instantly terminated.”
Milwaukee Election Fee Government Director Claire Woodall-Vogg mentioned Zapata had been with fee for about 7 years.
“Now we have by no means had any indication of any sort of violation of labor insurance policies or procedures,” Woodall-Vogg mentioned. “We after all shall be looking at that, however up till this level she’s been forthcoming and we don’t have any indication of any considerations at this level however that’s to not say we received’t be each side of the elections she’s been concerned in.”
The administrator for the state’s elections fee, Meagan Wolfe, mentioned she is “shocked and deeply disenchanted” by the allegations in opposition to Zapata.
“The actions of this single particular person have been swiftly detected and can have no affect [on] the November 8 election. We nonetheless acknowledge that the harm brought on by this motion is harm to public confidence,” Wolfe mentioned in a Wisconsin Elections Fee assertion.
“Our understanding is that no different ballots, past these beforehand reported, have been affected by this particular person’s actions,” she added. “Whereas the actions of this particular person set us all again in our efforts to point out Wisconsinites that our elections are run with integrity, I’ve each confidence the upcoming election shall be truthful and correct.”
In a press release to CNN, the Republican Celebration of Wisconsin reiterated that “election officers must comply with the regulation” but additionally raised considerations about “the vulnerabilities that proceed to be uncovered within the MyVote system.”
“We stay very involved that these vulnerabilities exist and that the Elections Fee isn’t taking the right steps to mitigate the dangers of potential fraud these vulnerabilities within the system create,” mentioned Chad Doran, communications director for the Wisconsin GOP.