Ex-Milwaukee Election Commission official Kimberly Zapata makes initial court appearance
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The fired Milwaukee Election Commission official who fraudulently requested absentee ballots in an attempt to expose a supposed vulnerability in the state's election system made her first court appearance Friday, Dec. 2.
Kimberly Zapata is charged with one count of misconduct in public office -- a felony -- and three counts of false statement to obtain and/or vote with an absentee ballot -- the three of which are misdemeanors.
Ahead of November's midterm elections, Zapata told investigators she purposely requested absentee ballots for fictitious military members and had the ballots mailed to Republican State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R - Menomonee Falls). Brandtjen is the Co-chair of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections. Zapata said she committed the fraud in an attempt to expose a supposed vulnerability in the state absentee request system.
The top state and local election officials have dismissed the claim saying no such vulnerability exists and anyone committing such fraud -- such as Zapata -- would quickly be caught due to the system of checks already in place.
Zapata did not answer reporters' questions as she arrived for her appearance Friday afternoon.
Zapata pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor counts. She was issued a $2,500 signature bond. Her next court appearance is set for Dec. 9.
Support from Harry Wait
Ahead of Zapata's initial appearance, a group of people including Harry Wait gathered outside the Milwaukee County Safety Building in support of Zapata and another person also charged with absentee ballot voter fraud.
Wait is the Racine County man who fraudulently requested absentee ballots of other people including elected officials and had them mailed to himself on purpose. Wait's case is moving through the court system and he had a motion hearing Friday.
He was also joined by Timothy Ramthun, a republican state representative and former GOP candidate for governor who has pushed for the impossible task of decertifying the 2020 election.
Both Wait and Ramthun told supporters they have never met Zapata and do not know what her motivations were, but believe her actions to expose the supposed vulnerability were noble.
Gableman connection to Zapata lawyer
Zapata was being represented by Abigail Bongiorno of the Thomas More Society. The group recently added former state Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman as senior counsel for its so-called election integrity initiative.
Gableman was fired in August after overseeing an investigation of the 2020 election that found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. The review ended up costing taxpayers more than $1,000,000. Gableman has also been in court to represent Harry Wait in earlier court appearances.