Instead of committing a crime, the accused alleged that she was attempting to expose flaws in the country’s electoral system.
A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge found a former Milwaukee vote official innocent of business misconduct and fraud.
In October 2022, Kimberly Zapata allegedly served as the Milwaukee Election Commission’s assistant producer. Using false names and Social Security numbers, she reportedly obtained three martial absentee ballots. Two days before the state’s presidential and parliamentary elections, she sent the vote to Republican position Rep. Janel Brandtjen.
In November of this year, Ms. Zapata was first accused of three criminal election fraud counts and criminal office misconduct.
Effective military personnel are required to file before voting or offer photo identification when applying for an absentee ballot under Wisconsin law. Any demand made by a member of the military will quickly result in a poll, according to the court complaint.
The judge rejected Ms. Zapata’s claim in the March 20 conviction that her steps were an attempt to expose flaws in the country’s electoral system rather than undertake a criminal offence. She also disclosed to investigators that she was aware that commission workers were handling harassment, threats, and allegations of misconduct at the time, which reinforced her entire mentality and decision to try to address a pressing issue in the system.
Ms. Zapata was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of wrongdoing in public business, which you have a maximum sentence of a$ 10, 000 good, 42 months in prison, or both. Additionally, she was found guilty of three counts of making a false statement to get or cast an absentee ballot, all of which could result in fines of up to$ 1, 000, six-month imprisonment, or both.
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The sentence is set for May. 2.
Attorney Says Zapata Had Great Objectives
Daniel Adams, one of Ms. Zapata’s attorneys, claimed his client saw herself as a whistleblower trying to expose vulnerabilities in the voting system and did n’t mean to hurt anyone. He claimed that her steps were motivated by her personal and professional anxiety and were intended to highlight a real issue. Ms. Zapata claimed she sent the ballots to Ms. Brandtjen because she was aware that she knew they would n’t be cast, raising the issue of potential election fraud.
She is the most outspoken voter fraudster I’ve heard, and I thought it might inspire her to stop and reflect and shift her attention away from these absurd conspiracy theories, she said.
Ms. Brandtjen has advocated for overturning President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Wisconsin, insisting there was widespread voting scams, among other states. Thus far, there have been recounts, various claims, an inspection by the democratic Legislative Audit Bureau, and a review by the traditional Wisconsin Institute for Law &, Liberty over the Wisconsin election result. At the moment, these questions have n’t found sufficient cases of misconduct to produce the 2020 election outcome to be changed.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal argued that Ms. Zapata went scoundrel with her steps, and that by not sharing her issues with state election officers, investigators, or politicians, she broke the law.
” She is never a journalist. She’s never exposing data. She’s committing vote scam”, he said during his closing claims. When there are numerous genuine means to increase those same issues,” as a nation we cannot handle people who break the law.”
In a statement released on March 20, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson stated that the situation “presented responsibility for a major error.”
” At the time of Zapata’s expulsion from the Milwaukee’s Election Commission, I said it does not matter that this might have been an effort to expose a risk that state laws created”, Mr. Johnson said.
” It makes no difference if the ballots for the City of Milwaukee were n’t used in this.” It does n’t matter if there was no illegal voting or election tampering with the results. Ultimately, the deeds were a violation of trust”.
This report was written by The Associated Press.
