The deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission was fired Thursday for fraud.
That was after it became known that Kimberly Zapata requested military ballots from the MyVote website, and sent them to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen.
Military voters are not required to register to vote in Wisconsin, meaning they don’t need to provide a photo ID to request an absentee ballot.
Election officials say they believe Zapata was attempting to highlight that someone could go to MyVote, make up a person, and request a ballot.
During a press conference Thursday, Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he was stunned by Zapata’s actions.
"It does not matter to me that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created. This has every appearance of being an egregious, blatant violation of trust," Johnson said.
Johnson says people should have confidence that elections are secure in Milwaukee because officials are being forthcoming about this situation.
Claire Woodall-Vogg, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, says up until this point, her office had no reason to suspect Zapata violated any workplace policies. But Woodall-Vogg’s team will be going over every aspect of Zapata’s involvement with elections.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin denounced Zapata’s actions.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin says everyone should be shocked by the vulnerabilities in the election system that continue to be exposed.
The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office has filed charges against Zapata, including misconduct in public office, and false statement to obtain or vote absentee ballot. Zapata's first court appearance is scheduled for November 28.
