Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson (D) said Thursday he fired a city election official accused of sending fraudulently obtained absentee military ballots to the home of a Republican lawmaker who embraced former President Donald Trump's false claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election--a revelation that comes just ahead of Election Day in Wisconsin's tightly contested midterm races.
Johnson said Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata was fired for sending ballots to the home of state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R), who serves as chairwoman of the legislature’s Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections and claims Trump won Wisconsin in 2020.
Brandtjen said in a news release Monday she received three ballots at her home, all addressed to "Holly" and with different last names, even though no one by the names had lived at her address.
The lawmaker said she believed someone mailed the ballots “to point out loopholes in our elections,” and Johnson also suggested Zapata allegedly sent the ballots to show voter fraud is possible in Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office is now investigating the case to consider possible criminal charges, and Johnson said the city is “looking into the possibility of other misdeeds,” though it has not uncovered other alleged violations so far.
Zapata, who has been on the election commission for seven years, could not be reached for comment.
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