A former Milwaukee election official is fined $3,000 for obtaining fake absentee ballots

MADISON, Wis. -- A erstwhile Milwaukee election authoritative convicted of misconduct successful bureau and fraud for obtaining fake absentee ballots was sentenced Thursday to 1 twelvemonth of probation and fined $3,000.

Kimberly Zapata, 47, besides was ordered to implicit 120 hours of assemblage service.

Prosecutors charged Zapata successful November 2022 with 1 felony number of misconduct successful nationalist bureau and 3 misdemeanor counts of predetermination fraud. A assemblage successful March recovered her blameworthy connected each 4 counts.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kori Ashley rejected an statement by Zapata's attorneys that she was acting arsenic a whistleblower, telling her earlier handing down the condemnation that she had ways to marque her constituent different than breaking the law.

Speaking conscionable earlier the condemnation was handed down, Zapata said she regretted her actions that she said “stemmed from a implicit affectional breakdown,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported. She said she has autism spectrum disorder, which makes it hard for her to modulate emotions, sensory input and thought processes.

“When idiosyncratic uses my name, I privation them to deliberation of bully qualities and the bully things I person done,” Zapata said. “I don’t privation to beryllium everlastingly attached to what I did successful that 8-minute model of my life.”

The felony complaint carried a maximum condemnation of 3 1/2 years successful prison. Each misdemeanor number carried a maximum six-month sentence.

Milwaukee Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal said Zapata’s actions were “an onslaught connected our electoral system,” which lone works if the nationalist tin spot those administering it.

“Accusations of predetermination fraud person virtually led to unit and a convulsive insurrection successful Washington, D.C.,” Westphal said. “That’s benignant of the behaviour we’re looking astatine present connected the spectrum. That’s wherever we extremity up erstwhile we person radical that are violating their duties, and that are putting distant this mendacious information.”

In a sentencing memorandum, Zapata’s defence lawyer Daniel Adams recommended a $500 good and said immoderate clip down bars would beryllium “a gross injustice and wholly unnecessary.”

“She has zero anterior transgression grounds and has been convicted of non-violent offenses,” helium wrote to Ashley. “Her volition was not to bargain votes but to exposure a morganatic flaw successful the elections system.”

Zapata served arsenic lawman manager astatine the Milwaukee Election Commission successful October 2022 erstwhile she utilized her work-issued laptop to get 3 subject absentee ballots utilizing fake names and Social Security numbers, according to a transgression complaint. She sent the ballots to Republican authorities Rep. Janel Brandtjen, an predetermination conspiracy theorist, 2 weeks earlier the state’s gubernatorial and legislative elections.

After officials learned of her actions, she was fired from her occupation with the city.

Active subject unit bash not person to registry to ballot oregon supply photograph recognition to get absentee ballots successful Wisconsin. Zapata told investigators that she was stressed implicit decease threats committee unit had been receiving from predetermination conspiracy theorists and she wanted to displacement their attraction to existent flaws successful the system.

Milwaukee, location to the largest fig of Democrats successful Wisconsin, has been a people for complaints from erstwhile President Donald Trump and his supporters, who made unsubstantiated claims of wide elector fraud to onslaught Biden’s 2020 victory.