photo #7698178

ANN KENEVAN on November 25, 2024

10 views

In Album: ANN KENEVAN's Timeline Photos

Dimension: 540 x 657

File Size: 88.12 Kb

View More View Less

ANN KENEVAN

Jury finds former Milwaukee election official guilty of election fraud Zapata will appear back in court on May 2 for sentencing By Evan Casey A Milwaukee County jury found a former election official guilty of election fraud involving absentee ballots Wednesday afternoon. Kimberly Zapata, the former ... View MoreJury finds former Milwaukee election official guilty of election fraud Zapata will appear back in court on May 2 for sentencing By Evan Casey A Milwaukee County jury found a former election official guilty of election fraud involving absentee ballots Wednesday afternoon. Kimberly Zapata, the former deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was also found guilty of misconduct in public office, a felony, after she admitted to using fake names to request military absentee ballots on her work laptop in 2022. Zapata then sent those ballots to the home of Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who was promoting false theories about election fraud. Zapata, 47, has been on trial in Milwaukee County since Monday. After deliberating for around five hours following closing arguments Wednesday morning, Zapata appeared quiet in court while Milwaukee County judge Ashley Kori read the decision of the jury. During opening statements, prosecutors said Zapata committed fraud and violated the public’s trust. However, her defense attorney said she acted as a “whistleblower.” As deputy director, Zapata was in charge of early voting, absentee voting and voter registration for the city of Milwaukee. She was fired by the city and charged with the crimes in November 2022. Her sentencing will be held May 2. She faces up to three-and-a-half years in prison, a $10,000 fine for the felony charge and another six months in prison for each of the election fraud charges, which carry fines of up to $1,000. The case comes as scrutiny around election integrity is on the forefront of many voters’ minds going into the 2024 elections, as the presidential race is shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 election. It’s also a case that Atiba Ellis, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, said was “rare, bordering on unheard of.” “Ordinarily, election administrators who see flaws in systems raise those flaws and those become the object of legislation,” Ellis said. “But for an election administrator to undertake the act of requesting a fake ballot in order to prove that election fraud can happen is simply unheard of.” In response to the news of the guilty verdict, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said the decision brought “accountability for a serious error.” “At the time of Zapata’s removal from the Milwaukee’s Election Commission, I said it does not matter that this might have been an effort to expose a vulnerability that state law created. It does not matter that City of Milwaukee ballots were not part of this. Nor does it matter that there was no attempt to vote illegally or tamper with election results,” Johnson said in the statement. “Fundamentally, the actions were a violation of trust.” https://www.wpr.org/news/jury-former-milwaukee-election-official-guilty-election-fraud-zapata

View Less

Jury finds former Milwaukee election official guilty of election fraud www.wpr.org

November 25, 2024

Dan Addis

She needs to be made an example of and jail her ass for 40 years!! That'll send a message to the Dumpokkklown terrorists not to mess with the people!!

1 November 25, 2024