A Wisconsin election official has been fired from her post and could face criminal charges after she reportedly fraudulently requested ballots as part of a plan to prove the feasibility of voter fraud, according to media reports.
Milwaukee Election Commission deputy director Kimberly Zapata was fired by city Mayor Cavalier Johnson this week" after allegedly "fraudulently requesting absentee ballots reserved for members of the military" and sending them to a Republican lawmaker, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Thursday.
City prosecutors are reportedly "considering charging Zapata with malfeasance in office, a felony, and illegally requesting a ballot, a misdemeanor," the paper said, citing an anonymous source.
District Attorney John Chisholm's office told the paper that charges are expected against the former commission member "in the coming days."
Johnson, meanwhile, said city officials are “looking into the possibility of other misdeeds" from Zapata. The mayor indicated that the provenance of the alleged fraud was immaterial to him.
“It does not matter to me that the alleged crime did not take place at work,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. “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.”
