Milwaukee Election Official Fired After 'Fictitious' Ballots: Mayor

MILWAUKEE, WI — Milwaukee Election Commission Deputy Director Kimberly Zapata was fired after revelations that she requested fake military ballots to be sent to a state representative, Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced Thursday.

Johnson said it has "every appearance of being an egregious, blatant violation of trust," in a statement to Twitter, adding that the situation is now in the hands of law enforcement. Zapata had access to her offices and computer systems deactivated and she was fired from the election commission, according to Johnson.

"I will not accept, I will not tolerate, and I certainly will not defend any misrepresentation by a city official involved in elections," Johnson wrote. "It does not matter that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created."

An internal city review showed that the ballots were sent to a Republican lawmaker in Waukesha, State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, the chair of the assembly committee on campaigns and elections, according to a report by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Waukesha County Sheriff's Office announced an investigation into those ballots this week after Brandtjen said she received three of them on Oct. 27. In a news release, Brandtjen said they were sent by clerks in Menomonee Falls, South Milwaukee and Shorewood.

Karen Kastenson, the clerk for South Milwaukee, told Patch the Wisconsin Election Commission is investigating although declined to comment. Clerks from Menomonee Falls and Shorewood did not respond to requests for comment.

See also: Sheriff Investigating After Waukesha Rep. Mailed Military Ballots

Brandtjen said she gave the ballots to the sheriff's office. She also contacted a conservative law firm and former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, according to the news release. Gableman led an investigation lasting over a year into Wisconsin's 2020 presidential election but found no evidence of voter fraud, according to The Associated Press.

Gableman is now representing Harry Wait, a Racine County man charged with election fraud and unauthorized use of personal information, according to AP.

Each ballot was addressed to a "Holly," with a different last name and Brandtjen said she believed someone was trying to make a point about military ballots, asserting that it was "now the second time citizens have tried to point out loopholes in our elections."

In July, Wait requested ballots in an attempt to prove vulnerabilities, according to a criminal complaint and authorities.