MILWAUKEE — Former Milwaukee election official Kimberly Zapata receives her sentence: one year of probation and a $3,000 fine.
Zapata was convicted in March of felony misconduct in public office and 3 misdemeanors for ordering absentee military ballots under fake names ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.
The felony charge carried a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 years in the state prison system. Each misdemeanor count carried a maximum six-month sentence.
Zapata was serving as deputy director at the Milwaukee Election Commission in October 2022 when she used her work-issued laptop to obtain three military absentee ballots using fake names and Social Security numbers, according to a criminal complaint. She sent the ballots to Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, an election conspiracy theorist, two weeks before the state’s gubernatorial and legislative elections.
Brandtjen advocated for decertifying President Joe Biden’s 2020 win in Wisconsin and provided conspiracy theories supporting her position.
Active military personnel do not have to register to vote or provide photo identification to obtain absentee ballots in Wisconsin. Zapata told investigators that she was stressed over death threats commission staff had been receiving from election conspiracy theorists and she wanted to shift their attention to real flaws in the system.
She was fired from her job at the city after officials learned of her actions.
